A Market-Based Approach for Crossing the Valley of Death: The Benefits of a Capital Gains Exemption for Investments in Startups

Abstract

Without making any bold claim of a “free lunch,” there is nonetheless a compelling case to be made that permanently exempting investments in start ups from any capital gains taxes for five years would come reasonably close. It would conservatively boost annual equity investment in start ups by 50 percent more than the annual revenue loss to the federal Treasury. Such investments also likely would be disproportionately channeled to potential high-growth firms, which also punch well above their weight in terms of job creation potential as compared to other start ups. Given the need for additional jobs in this anemic recovery, the case for inducing additional start up investment through the capital gains tax exemption is strong.

Keywords: capital gains, tax exemption, policy, startup