Just to be clear: there are people who sat in a room and decided that it was normal to introduce a tax, at the end of each fiscal year, of 36% on unrealized gains.
In a country where the income tax rate begins at 35% too and quickly goes to 49%. Then on the money you have left you pay 21% VAT on every single thing you buy. I'm not going to list every single additional tax (inheritance tax 20% to 40%, etc.) but there are many.
And then they decided that should you invest some of what you have left, you'd have to pay 36% annually on unrealized gains.
It's pure insanity: thankfully they're rethinking this madness.
This is a tax on wealth. Since many wealthy people don’t want to share their money, maybe it’s reasonable for some of it to be taken away from them and redistributed. That’s the real issue.
As Pikkety pointed out, vast fortunes distort the democratic process, because a few rich people can manipulate politicians to pass laws that favour them. Moreover, the growth rate for investments is always greater than the growth rate of wages, so exponential growth means that wealth inequality will only worsen with time. One way to reduce inequality is to tax wealth more than income.
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[ 2.6 ms ] story [ 15.0 ms ] thread"Dutch Lawmakers Approve a 36% Tax on Unrealized Crypto, Stock, and Bond Gains"
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47008391
But now the Dutch are maybe backing away from it.
In a country where the income tax rate begins at 35% too and quickly goes to 49%. Then on the money you have left you pay 21% VAT on every single thing you buy. I'm not going to list every single additional tax (inheritance tax 20% to 40%, etc.) but there are many.
And then they decided that should you invest some of what you have left, you'd have to pay 36% annually on unrealized gains.
It's pure insanity: thankfully they're rethinking this madness.
As Pikkety pointed out, vast fortunes distort the democratic process, because a few rich people can manipulate politicians to pass laws that favour them. Moreover, the growth rate for investments is always greater than the growth rate of wages, so exponential growth means that wealth inequality will only worsen with time. One way to reduce inequality is to tax wealth more than income.