> AAPL is up 0.67% over yesterday. Let's pretend it's January 1st, and my net worth is tied up entirely in Apple stock. Should I pay taxes on that unrealized ga

> AAPL is up 0.67% over yesterday. Let's pretend it's January 1st, and my net worth is tied up entirely in Apple stock. Should I pay taxes on that unrealized gain? This isn’t actually an argument against the idea that you’re wealthier, you’re just arguing that society shouldn’t tax you yet. These arguments are orthogonal, one can admit that paper gains are real wealth while also maintaining that we should only tax realized gains for policy reasons. Similarly, if my house doubles in value, then I’m richer. It might not be liquid yet, but the bank, the local property tax authority, and my account would absolutely treat me as significantly richer than before. The issue in the above article isn’t that gains aren’t taxed until after the sale. The issue is that for the ultra wealthy they basically never sell. Instead their stock holdings are used as collateral for low interest debt that finances the lifestyle of these executives. In this case it sure seems like the gains are realized in every way other than for the IRS. Personally, I’d tax the bejeesus out of this scheme, preferably by counting it as straight up income subject to normal tax rates. Take a salary or sell the stock and pay the gains tax, no other choices.