The top federal capital gains tax rate is scheduled to increase from 15 percent to 23.8 percent next year. Some policymakers think that a reduced rate for capital gains is an unjustified tax preference. However, capital gains are different than ordinary income and have been subject to special low rates since 1922.1 Nearly every country has reduced tax rates on individual long-term capital gains, with some countries imposing no tax at all. This bulletin describes why policymakers should keep capital gains taxes low, and it presents data on capital gains tax rates for the 34 nations in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.