Trump officials float cut to capital gains tax on home sales

A tax break for Americans selling their primary residence could become part of the Trump administration’s midterm pitch. But experts say such an effort is unlikely to happen quickly — and the benefits would skew to wealthier homeowners.

In a conversation on Fox Business on Tuesday, National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett and host Larry Kudlow, who led the council during Trump’s first term, said the White House may propose new tax breaks in the lead-up to the midterm elections.

Kudlow said he’d spoken to President Donald Trump about indexing capital gains to inflation, as well as making changes to capital gains taxes on home sales that would shield more of homeowners’ profits from taxes. He said Trump was “very interested” in those ideas.

“These are not necessarily rich people,” Kudlow said. “These are empty nesters who own a house for 30 or 40 [years], but they shouldn’t have to pay the Biden inflation tax.”

A change to the home sale capital gains exclusion would require action from Congress, and it’s unclear how interested the administration is in pursuing the idea.

“President Trump is always exploring new ideas to Make America Wealthy Again, but any policy announcements will come from the Administration directly,” White House spokesman Kush Desai told CNBC in an emailed statement.

Changes to the tax law ahead of the midterm elections are also “extremely unlikely,” given the tight time frame, said Jude Boudreaux, a certified financial planner and partner and senior financial planner with The Planning Center in New Orleans, Louisiana.

“Just based on how difficult it seems to be to get any legislation passed recently,” said Boudreaux.

The comments from Hassett and Kudlow follow other recent efforts from lawmakers to reduce or eliminate capital gains on home sales.

Earlier this year, Sens. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Tim Scott, R-S.C., sent a letter to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, asking him to reduce capital gains taxes by indexing a home’s basis with inflation.

Several bills in Congress have also sought to address the issue. A bipartisan, bicameral proposal from early 2025, the More Homes on the Market Act, would double the capital gains exemptions for primary home sales profits and adjust those figures annually for inflation. Meanwhile, the No Tax on Homes Sales Act, introduced by former Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., in mid-2025, would eliminate capital gains taxes on the sale of primary residences. Those bills remain in committee.

Trump has himself also raised the idea of an end to capital gains tax on home sales.

Homeowners selling a primary residence who…