The Globe and Mail Brenda Bouw Published January 12, 2021 wutwhanfoto/iStockPhoto / Getty Images The threat of a higher capital gains tax rate is resurfacing in conversations between financial advisors and their clients as Ottawa looks for ways to pay down a soaring deficit amid billions in spending on pandemic-relief measures. There has been speculation ahead of each federal budget in recent years that the Liberal government will increase the so-called capital gains inclusion rate, currently at 50 per cent, which is the percentage of capital gains included in taxable income. However, advisors say the unprecedented spending on COVID-19 programs, which has pushed the projected size of the deficit to almost $400-billion, makes a capital gains tax increase more likely.