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Individual and Corporate Capital Gains Are Highly Correlated

Leonard E. Burman, George A. Plesko

Published: October 28, 2002     ||   Availability:  PDF |  Printer-Friendly Version

The nonpartisan Urban Institute publishes studies, reports, and books on timely topics worthy of public consideration. The views expressed are those of the authors and should not be attributed to the Urban Institute, its trustees, or its funders.

© TAX ANALYSTS. Reprinted with permission.

This report is available in its entirety in the Portable Document Format (PDF).


A perpetual policy debate surrounds the proper taxation of capital gains. One concern is that the tax creates a "lock-in effect." That is, people will hold onto assets longer than they otherwise would in order to avoid the tax. If significant, the lock-in effect would represent an undesirable tax distortion in its own right. It might also mean that cuts in capital gains tax rates could pay for themselves, because the added revenues from induced realizations would offset the loss due to the rate cut.

This report is available in its entirety in the Portable Document Format (PDF).