Royal warning: Biden victory may bring ‘significant changes’ to Meghan and Harry’s US life
The Express
Meghan Markle and Prince Harry could be affected by the upcoming Presidential election if the Democratic nominee Joe Biden wins, according to a tax expert.
Meghan recently confirmed that she would be voting in the 2020 Presidential elections. Although she did not say who she would be voting for, royal fans have assumed she will be supporting the Democratic candidate, Joe Biden. The Duchess of Sussex was vocal in her opposition to Donald Trump when he was running for President in 2016 and she claimed he was “misogynistic” and “divisive”.
While members of the Royal Family are not expected to vote in order to remain apolitical, Meghan and Harry’s decision to leave the royal frontline means they no longer represent the Queen.
As a US citizen, Meghan will be able to cast her vote but Harry will not — unlike his wife, he was not born in the States.
Still, the couple’s new lifestyle in the US could be seriously affected if Mr Biden takes the presidency.
Tax expert David Lesperance recently told Express.co.uk that a change in presidency would “absolutely” affect tax laws, and agreed that Meghan and Harry’s current tax situation could therefore change significantly in the event of a Democrat win.
He said that if the Democrats won all three houses, at a minimum what they would promise is they would “increase capital gains tax to ordinary tax relief”.
Mr Lesperance continued: “If the Democrats ‘do a sweep’ there will be a jump in capital gains tax from that 23 percent up to the 47 percent.”
Capital gains tax is paying tax on the profit of the sale of the item — and Meghan and Harry have just bought their first house together in Santa Barbara, California.
They paid a whopping $14.7million (£11million) for a lavish mansion, with a $9.5million (£7million) mortgage.
As the Tax Foundation website explained, Mr Biden’s plan would only affect “filers in the top long-term capital gains bracket”, but he would nearly double capital gains tax for big earners like the Sussexes.
Mr Biden also plans to raise the payroll tax to income over $400,000 (£318,000), which is likely to cover Meghan and Harry.
The Tax Foundation website claims that the former Vice President wants to revert the top individual income tax rate for taxable incomes above $400,000 from 37 percent to 39.6 percent.
Indeed, Meghan and Harry have recently signed on to the same high-profile speaking agency as Barack and Michelle Obama, meaning they are likely to earn more than $400,000 per year.
Some sources have claimed that Harry could already have made more than $750,000 (£596,800) for completing a speech at a JP Morgan event earlier this year.
Mark Borkowski, a PR expert even speculated recently that the pair could earn more than $1million (£795,000) for each occasion.