Kamala Harris’ Critics Are Totally Wrong About Taxing Unrealized Gains

I’m trying to figure out if I’ve ever heard as much nonsense in such a short period of time as I’m hearing right now about the Biden-Harris plan to tax unrealized capital gains.

According to the plan, a the increase in the value of an asset would be taxed as incomeeven if the owner has not sold the asset. Currently, these so-called paper profits are not taxed.

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It does not matter that this proposal is not new and is far from being adopted as law in the near future.

Or that it would only apply to the small number of people who have a net worth of more than $100 million.

Or that it would be created to solve a very specific problem, namely that many super-rich actually pay almost no income tax.

Even putting all that aside, almost everything I hear against the proposal is false and an insult to our intelligence.

I’m not even particularly liberal. I’m a registered independent, an investor and a capitalist. But these arguments are so bad they make me want to brandish the hammer and sickle and start singing the “Internationale”. Conservatives and Republicans who favor low taxes should be embarrassed.

Let us begin first with all the arguments made against this policy which are simply arguments against taxes in general — for example, if we tax unrealized gains, it will mean people are penalized for owning property or saving money.

From this perspective, I am penalized for working for a living, because I have to pay income tax. I am also penalized for owning a home, because it is subject to estate tax. I am penalized for inheriting money if I have to pay estate tax. I am penalized for making purchases when I pay my state’s sales tax.

What’s left? Uh… nothing.

Look, I get it. These people don’t like paying taxes. Nobody likes it. But the government’s money has to come from somewhere. If I want to live in anarchy with no taxes and no government, I can probably move to one of the world’s failed states and take my chances.

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These people are no different from left-wing extremists who also want something for free. They deserve each other.

Then there are complaints that taxing unrealized gains is somehow unfair because the investment has not yet been sold, or because it would be too difficult, logistically, to tax it before a sale.

Ugh.

Why should I sell something before it becomes taxable? My city taxes my house on its assessed value every year. It doesn’t feel compelled to wait to sell it.

My mutual funds and exchange-traded funds charge me fees based on the total value of my investment. They don’t just charge me for the funds I sold. I pay a percentage of the total value, including any unrealized gains.

If you have a financial advisor or portfolio…