[overfeed]

> You can argue for a wealth tax

My footnotes are the entirety of my argument, and it's not even as radical as a wealth tax. My argument has 2 easy steps:

1. Remove the arbitrage between actual liquidity events and the limited set of what the IRS currently considers taxable events. Borrowing against securities not being taxable is an example of what's broken. Arbitrage using trusts or LLCs needs to be deleted, based on controlling interests and/or ultimate beneficiary.

2. Align tax rates on capital gains vs. income

[WalterBright]

> Borrowing against securities not being taxable is an example of what's broken.

Is is also broken that you don't pay taxes on the mortgage you borrowed to buy a house?

Or the money you borrowed to buy a car?

What about the money you borrowed when using your credit card?

Or the money you borrowed to fund your college years?

[overfeed]

Yes, all those things would be broken if I don't need any leverage, and my loans were backed by liquid assets I already possess that I'm avoiding selling in an effort to avoid taxable events even though I really want to purchase a fancy Palo Alto compound that occupies an entire block.

For the vast majority of folk who take out the loans you listed, the loans are leveraged and are either unsecured, or secured by the car or property the loan was made out for, and therefore no underlying value to tax prior to the loan being issued. You knew this already, and I have doubts you're making this false equivalency argument in good faith.

[WalterBright]

Margin loans are secured by the stocks.

Mortgage loans are secured by the house.

Car loans are secured by the car.

They are equivalent. There's nothing special about margin debt.