Sallie Fellows: If readers want lower taxes for 99.5% who aren't multi-millionaires vote Democrats

To The Daily Sun,

Republicans brag about repealing the Interest and Dividends. Democrats want to keep it. So, who will benefit from the repeal?

Most people have never heard of this tax on what’s called "unearned” or “passive” income, such as stock dividends, profit distributions from private businesses and venture capital firms, and interest on CDs. It doesn’t apply to wages earned by working, IRAs, pensions, or capital gains. Less than 11% of households pay this tax.

For 2022, fewer than 60,000 households (single or joint filers) paid this tax. The rate was 5% and it raised $150 million. Half the households paid less than $500. The rest were mostly multi-millionaires, like Kelly Ayotte.

So, who will benefit the most if the tax is eliminated? It will be the 27 households with passive income of more than $5 million in 2022, the 278 households with $1 million to $5 million, and the 1,962 with $200,000 to $999,999. Collectively these 2,267 ultra-rich, who were 4% of taxpayers and less than 0.5 of 1% of households in the state, will keep in their pockets more than $86 million. The 46% households with passive incomes between $12,400 and $200,000 will keep $500 to $10,000 each.

Joyce Craig and Democrats want to keep this tax with a higher deductible so the 50% that paid less than $500 in 2022 will pay nothing. Since it provides 9% of the General Fund budget, this tax is needed to pay for critical services such as state police, settlement of the YDC abuse cases, and aid to cities and towns.

Since New Hampshire has no general income tax, is it too much to ask multi-millionaires to pay a 5% tax on just their Interest and Dividends income? If readers want lower taxes for the 99.5% of us who are not multi-millionaires vote for Democrats.

Sallie Fellows

Holderness