Inaccurate emails have been circulating the Internet lately, claiming that the Health Care Reform Act includes a provision for "all home sellers to pay a 3.8% Sales Tax every time they sell their home."
Rest assured that MOST sellers will NOT pay this tax.
According to factcheck.org:
"The truth is that only a tiny percentage of home sellers will pay the tax. First of all, only those with incomes over $200,000 a year ($250,000 for married couples filing jointly) will be subject to it. And even for those who have such high incomes, the tax still won't apply to the first $250,000 on profits from the sale of a personal residence — or to the first $500,000 (on profits) in the case of a married couple selling their (personal) home."
Example: If you bought a home for $400,000 and you are a married couple, you would have to sell it for over $900,000 (400,000 plus the profit of 500,000 which is not taxed) before the 3.8% sales tax comes in to play.
So even a married couple filing jointly with income over $250,000 a year who make a profit of $500,000 when selling their $1,500,000 personal residence will pay no "health-care" taxes on their gain.
For the complete story, go to: http://www.factcheck.org/2010/04/a-38-percent-sales-tax-on-your-home/
Here is the link to the actual bill. It looks like it doesn't go into effect until 2013.
http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=111_cong_bills&docid=f:h4872enr.txt.pdf