Hazel Blears Blears had been claiming MPs' second home expenses relating to the flat. She had made a £45,000 profit on its sale without paying capital gains tax. On 12 May she volunteered to pay the £13,332 capital gains tax she had avoided on the sale of her second home. It was subsequently claimed that Gordon Brown had ordered her to repay the sum. In Salford she was met by a number of angry protesters and stayed in a local hotel rather than at home. Following an investigation by Sir Thomas Legg, Blears was told to repay £225 in expenses in relation
Capital gains tax in the United States tax rate was 25%. Capital gains tax rates were significantly increased in the 1969 and 1976 Tax Reform Acts. In 1978, Congress eliminated the minimum tax on excluded gains and increased the exclusion to 60%, reducing the maximum rate to 28%. The 1981 tax rate reductions further reduced capital gains rates to a maximum of 20%. The Tax Reform Act of 1986 repealed the exclusion of long-term gains, raising the maximum rate to 28% (33% for taxpayers subject to phaseouts). The 1990 and 1993 budget acts increased ordinary tax rates but re-established a lower rate of 28% for long-term gains,