Oddbean new post about | logout
▲ ▼
bezy | 1 months ago (raw) | root | parent | reply | flag +1 
 I agree unrealized gains tax is bullshit, but isn't there a property tax in Florida (republican state) on an "assessed value" of the property? That feels like an unrealized gains tax in a state led by a republican. 
Again, I'm against centralization and I lean right, but what she's proposing doesn't feel so scandalous. 
But I am just an outside observer.
▲ ▼
fiddlehodl@nostrplebs.com | 1 months ago (raw) | root | parent | reply | flag 
 To the best of my knowledge, property taxes have been normalized in all US counties. There's a lot to say about how bad they are, but they're based solely on the value of your home and are structured to pay for local schools and local amenities (trash collection, etc). Your other assets don't come into play, and when they get too onerous people can move to a jurisdiction (even within the same state) with more reasonable property tax rates.

Unrealized gains is just the federal govt grabbing a chunk of your asset wealth every year.

When Biden first proposed unrealized gains, it was only for billionaires. In Kamala Harris's proposal, it's for folks who have $100 million in assets. Once the concept has been normalized, that threshold will likely continue to drop just as it did for income taxes after they were introduced in the early 1900s. 

At the same time,  the people who benefit from those gains also control spending, which means that inflation is great for them - even better than before - because it brings more and more Americans into the pool of folks whose unrealized gains will be taxes.

On a long enough timeline and with those incentives, it effectively wipes out private property.