Stepped Up Basis Reform: Biden’s Middle-Class Tax Hike? May 6, 2021 6:34 AM Taylor Tepper - Forbes Advisor Posted: Updated: May 8, 2021 6:32 AM President Joe Biden campaigned on a promise not to raise taxes on middle-class Americans. But a little-known provision in his big social programs bill could do just that. Tucked away in the American Families Plan, is a proposal to change the way capital gains taxes are paid on estates when people pass away. This seemingly small revision to a tax rule called stepped up basis could cause average Americans to pay more to Uncle Sam than they would under the current tax regime, in addition to upending estate planning for the nation’s affluent and uber-wealthy.