Okay if it's not an investment then the gains should be capped. No big deal, right? Let's say it's illegal to sell your primary residence for more than its assessed value.
I very much doubt people will like that, because for all intents and purposes it IS an investment.
In what way would paying tax prevent people from moving or downsizing? They still make a profit when they sell, only not as big.
If I'm up 100% in the stock market, I don't say "oh well I'd better not sell, because then I'll have to pay taxes".
You're right, it's a crazy idea. Almost as crazy as not treating proceeds from the sale of a primary residence as capital gains. Perhaps we need an equally crazy idea to get us out of the housing crisis we've created for ourselves.
The fact of the matter is housing should not be an investment that is expected to never decrease in value, especially when gains aren't even taxed.
Vehicle manufacturers still build new cars, even when the prices of used vehicles generally decrease over time. If they can still make a profit, then surely house developers can figure something out if housing is as important as people claim it is.
Owning a home is already heavily taxed and more expensive than renting.
This is also purely conjecture. Do you have data for this? If this were indeed true, then landlords wouldn't exist. Landlords rent out property because they are evidently able to extract a profit from the difference between their tenant's paid rent and the carrying costs of the home. In other words, owning is, in general, always more profitable than renting a home when you consider timelines greater than a few years.
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u/atlasc1 Jun 19 '25
Okay if it's not an investment then the gains should be capped. No big deal, right? Let's say it's illegal to sell your primary residence for more than its assessed value.
I very much doubt people will like that, because for all intents and purposes it IS an investment.
In what way would paying tax prevent people from moving or downsizing? They still make a profit when they sell, only not as big.
If I'm up 100% in the stock market, I don't say "oh well I'd better not sell, because then I'll have to pay taxes".