Billionaire investor Mark Cuban insisted Thursday that Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris will not be taxed on unrealized gains from being president.
“Every conversation I’ve had says that’s not going to happen,” Cuban said on CNBC’s “Squawk Box.”
Cuban said he speaks frequently with Harris’ team, but insisted to CNBC that she is not interested in taxing unrealized gains.
“I’m not going to speak for the vice president, she makes the final decision,” he warned.
Still, “I talk to these people three or four times a week, having back-and-forth conversations, and what they say to me, verbatim, is, ‘That’s not where we want to be.'”
Cuban said Harris aides told him “we need to find alternative revenue sources that are designed to replace the unrealized gains tax that the Biden plan would have implemented.”
Cuban is neither a Republican nor a Democrat, but he was one of more than 100 venture capitalists who invested earlier this summer. Support Harris for President.
Cuban’s comments could mark another break between Harris and President Joe Biden on tax policy.
Biden’s fiscal year 2025 budget plan proposes a 25% minimum income tax on Americans with wealth exceeding $100 million.
Unlike current law, Biden’s budget would impose an annual tax on the unrealized gains (the increase in value of assets that have not been sold) on the wealthiest Americans. The plan has faced opposition from Republicans and even some Democrats.
Harris, who takes over as the Democratic nominee less than four months before Election Day, has not explicitly abandoned plans to tax unrealized gains.
However, Harris said she supports a “billionaire minimum tax” in a speech Wednesday where she rolled out more economic policies.
Cuban said Harris “started with the Biden plan, but that’s not necessarily where she ends.”
The Harris campaign did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment on Cuban’s remarks.
Harris, whose new campaign is trying to appeal to moderate voters, on Wednesday abandoned plans in Biden’s budget to increase the capital gains tax from 23.8% to 39.6% for households making more than $1 million a year.
Harris’ plan would raise long-term capital gains rates to a maximum of 28%. The Harris campaign noted in a press release Wednesday that the number is “well below the rate proposed in Biden’s budget.”
“In her view, this approach strikes the right balance,” the campaign said.
Harris is sorting out her policy plans in preparation for her first and possibly only debate with Republican nominee Donald Trump next Tuesday.
Revealed: CNBC has exclusive off-network cable rights to Shark Tank, which features Mark Cuban as a panelist.
About The Author
