Happy Valentine's Day, @ericvancewalton.

I'm trying to understand the rationale behind the Netherlands unrealized tax reform. I looked up some information (I know nothing about the economy of the Netherlands). Apparently taxes on income are higher, overall, than we are assessed in the U.S.:

The Netherlands taxes its residents on worldwide income, dividing it into three separate schedules, or “boxes,” each with its own rules and rates.
Box 1 covers taxable income from employment and home ownership. For 2026, the first €38,883 of income in this bracket is taxed at 8.10% (with national insurance contributions at 27.65% within that bracket). Income between €38,883 and €78,426 is taxed at 37.56%, and anything above €78,426 is taxed at 49.50%.

Some have asserted that wealth inequality in that country has increased over the last several years (not income inequality). One of the ways to address that is to tax unrealized assets before a person dies. Otherwise, the assets continue to grow, without taxation during a person's lifetime and then gets passed on, tax-free, to heirs. This, it is contended contributes to the increased wealth inequality. The government will never recoup those lost gains.

On the other hand, taxing unrealized gains, particularly in crypto, could lead to a liquidity issue. Investors will be required to pay money they have not actually received. If they don't have cash on hand, they have to liquidate assets.

It's complicated, isn't it? I think of that adage about unintended consequences. No way to tell how this will actually work out for the taxpayer and for the society until it is enacted. They say that in the Netherlands there is customarily a five-year look back period to asses the effect of such a law. In this case, it's a three-year look back. There is obviously an awareness that this law may have more negative than positive effects.

You can see I found this very interesting. I sort of jumped down a rabbit hole looking into it.