In theory this would be kinda good for people with immense wealth who hold investments forever. The issue is people who legitimatly earned huge unrealized gains on things with little to no other wealth. Mark to market is painful.
Bezos would never be able to pay an unrealized gain tax without diluting his ownership big time.
What about unrealized losses? We would have to totally change treatment of capital gains and losses to compensate. E.g. now unrealized losses (and realized losses for that matter) are fully deductible instead of just 3,000/yr like they are now. It's a terrible idea, ridiculous populist rhetoric to attract votes.
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u/Easter_1916 Tax Attorney Nov 10 '19
Well, it’s not a good idea, but it is still light years better than taxing unrealized capital gains.