Warren Buffett Pays a Lower Tax Rate Than His Secretary.
The Bracket That Makes It Possible Is Open to Anyone With a Brokerage Account Quick Read – The 0% long-term capital gains bracket lets married couples earning under $32,200 gross income sell appreciated stock and owe zero federal tax. – Gain harvesting requires holding shares over one year, and unlike loss harvesting, the wash-sale rule doesn’t apply if you immediately repurchase. – A large realized gain counts as taxable income, potentially pushing part into the 15% bracket and triggering Medicare IRMAA surcharges or ACA subsidy losses. – If you own a brokerage account, you already have access to the same tax bracket that lets Warren Buffett famously pay a lower rate than his secretary
It is called the 0% long-term capital gains bracket, and it lets qualifying investors sell appreciated stock and pay zero federal tax on the gain. No offshore trust required. No Berkshire Hathaway holdings needed.
The Bracket the World’s Most Famous Investor Actually Uses Buffett’s low effective rate reflects the source of his income: most of it arrives as long-term capital gains and qualified dividends, which are taxed under a separate, gentler schedule than wages. That schedule has three tiers: 0%, 15%, and 20%. The 0% tier exists in the code every year, and millions of households legally sit inside it.