Unrealized, Untaxed, Untouchable: Musk's $1T Paper Fortune Meets a Global Tax Pile-On 💸

Elon Musk became the first person to reach a $1 trillion net worth on June 12, a fortune held almost entirely in unsold stock rather than cash, and is now the focal point of a wave of proposed tax legislation aimed at taxing unrealized gains on billionaires.

South Korean lawmakers and labor groups proposed folding unrealized gains on stocks and real estate into the country's income tax at a forum hosted by the ruling Democratic Party this week, a measure cited as a factor in a sharp selloff in Korean equities on Tuesday.

In the Netherlands, the Lower House of the Dutch Parliament passed the Box 3 Actual Return Act on February 12, which would tax annual paper gains on stocks, bonds, and crypto at a flat 36% beginning in 2028, though the Senate has not yet approved it. On February 25 the finance minister said the measure would require amendments, with the FT reporting earlier this month that Prime Minister Rob Jetten's coalition is preparing concessions.

In the United States, Senator Ron Wyden's Billionaires Income Tax, which has more than 20 cosponsors and a House companion introduced by Representatives Steve Cohen and Don Beyer, would mark tradable assets to market each year and tax them as long-term capital gains at the existing top rate of up to 23.8% (the 20% long-term capital gains rate plus the 3.8% net investment income tax). Gains on nontradable assets like real estate and private businesses would be taxed at the normal capital gains rate plus a "deferral recapture" interest charge, capped at 49% of the gain.

The bill's stated purpose is "to require billionaires to pay taxes annually by eliminating the ability of high income and high net worth taxpayers to use tax planning strategies such as 'buy, borrow, die' to defer paying taxes indefinitely," according to the bill text.

The Dutch law would also bring crypto holdings within its scope, putting digital assets such as $BTC and $ETH alongside stocks and bonds for the purposes of the proposed 36% annual levy, though the measure still requires Senate approval and potential amendment before any 2028 implementation.

No estimate of Musk's hypothetical tax liability under any of the three proposals was included in the source reporting.