In October of the current year, Mike sold a share of Berkshire-Hathaway for $73,000. He had acquired it several years ago at a cost of $38,000. He also sold Microsoft stock he had held for 3 years at a gain of $17,000. He had a short-term $2,000 loss on the sale of stock of a start-up technical company. He has $85,000 in taxable income before capital transactions are taken into account.
1. What is the amount of Mike's tax on the capital transactions?
2. What would be Mike's tax on the capital transaction if his taxable income before the capital transactions are taken into account is $20,000?