Comment by philipallstar

> Well then why are people able to borrow against it and then also deduct taxes on the interest on that borrowed amount?

I doubt they can borrow against the full amount of it, because that changes. They'll be borrowing against a much smaller value, so the lender has a safety margin. Same as if you have a mortgage you pay less interest the less you borrow vs the value of your house, except I imagine it will be far more conservative.

> Also I pay property taxes. Somehow the worth of the property goes up every year and gets gets taxed accordingly. Then why can’t wealth get the same treatment?

Well, three things.

Firstly, as an aside, it's incredible that you would want this. That is a bad system. You should get taxed according to the services you consume, along with a flat rate for common services, rather than punished with taxes for daring to spend money on improving your house.

Secondly, "wealth" is far less tangible than property prices. Property prices are very well understood. A share price can fluctuate wildly, and saying "well your net worth for today is the number of shares you have times the last share sale price" is just a terrible measure.

Thirdly, what will those shares be worth to sell when they are taxed? Investing is a gamble. Housing is different: we need housing to live, and we want a nice house. No one wants shares. They want a return, and for it they'll stump up a giant amount of money, that will fund many jobs for years, and generate lots of taxes, and who will want to do that when their share will be eroded year on year? There's no benefit to shares except the return. Decreasing the return will have a direct impact on innovation and jobs.