What an incredibly ridiculous proposal. It runs completely counter to any notion of fairness or common sense.

Even if you ignore the cost of valuation and appraisal (which we shouldn’t), just because the market temporarily values an asset more highly, how does that translate into something that should be taxed?

Also, if a business owner is forced to pay taxes on a perceived increase in the value of the business, but the cashflow is constrained, this could force that owner to sell the business or at least some equity in it, or take out a loan to pay the new tax!

Further, if the valuation is lower this year than last, it would not be enough to allow the loss to be carried forward. The government would need to pay back that tax right away or it would accelerate business closings in a downturn. That level of uncertainty in tax collections would be a budget nightmare.

This is another instance of democrats’ kneejerk reaction to how they abhor the current resident of the oval office. They can’t seem to find any “progressive” idea too extreme to embrace. Slavery reparations anyone?