Today, Americans for Tax Reform president Grover Norquist was a guest on CNBC’s Squawk Box and made the case for ending the inflation tax on capital gains.
[Click here to watch]
Norquist said that the tax on inflation discourages people from selling property, even when it may make sense to sell.
“People who bought land or a house or stocks 20, 30, 40 years ago, often don’t sell those, even when it makes sense, corporations have maybe $7 trillion sticky in capital, capital they’re not moving around, because to sell it, you get hit with the tax on inflation. End that tax on inflation, and you’d see trillions of dollars of previously held assets move to higher and better use. It’s not a new investment, but its investment in better use.”
Norquist went on to argue that the idea of taxing inflation is morally wrong.
“It is morally wrong for the government to create inflation, and then tax people on it.”