Tipsheet
Premium

Americans Should Pay Attention to the Netherlands' Newest Tax Scheme

Amy Curtis
Amy Curtis  |  February 17, 2026 6:30 PM

On February 13, the Dutch Parliament voted to enact a 36 percent tax on unrealized capital gains in stocks, crypto, and bonds. Such a move has long been the dream of American Leftists, who haven't seen a penny they didn't want to tax so hard that Lincoln would defect to the Confederacy.

They genuinely believe all our money, including the "imaginary" money that is unrealized capital gains, belongs to them. In fairness, private jets and lavish lifestyles don't come cheap, and it's hard to live large on the $174,000 Congressional salary. While I am not an economic and tax policy wonk, I thank the Dutch for being willing to blow up their economy because maybe Americans will learn what happens when you let Leftists tax you to death.

Taxing unrealized capital gains is a surefire formula for making sure no one invests in your nation, and that those who are wealthy enough to do so will leave your nation. We've seen billionaires leave California after the state proposed a five percent one-time "wealth tax" and there's no reason to believe the wealthy Dutch won't do the same.

If you're not sure how this works, this is the Cliff's Notes version: Say you own $50,000 worth of bitcoin in 2025. In 2026, the value increases to $100,000. You don't get access to that money unless you cash out, and then you'd have $50,000 in gains. But if you don't cash out, that money is an unrealized gain. Tomorrow, the bitcoin price could crash to $30,000.

Doesn't matter, though. The Dutch government would still demand that you pay 36 percent on that $50,000 gain. That's $18,000. Few people have that lying around, so they'd be forced to sell the stock or other assets. No, you don't receive a refund for the losses.

If you want a more in-depth explainer, here's one from Dutch PM Michel Hoogeveen.

This could become "one of the biggest destructions of future wealth" in Dutch history.

Taxing unrealized capital gains is economically illiterate, of course.

Yet it's one Democrats have floated in the past. In 2024, the Biden administration proposed a 25 percent tax on unrealized capital gains for "high-net-worth" individuals. At the time, people warned it would "crush the [American] economy." Thankfully, that scheme never came to fruition. And stop me if you've heard Democrats say they'd just tax "high-net-worth" individuals before. The income tax was supposed to be on only the wealthiest Americans. Now we all have until April 15 to file and pay our taxes, regardless of our income, by and large.

But the Dutch government looked at Biden's plan and said, "Hold vores øl." 

And I welcome it. Sometimes lessons are best learned the hard way.

The Dutch Parliament has decided to gamble with its own prosperity. Fine. Let them. But Americans should take note: every time Democrats insist a wealth tax would only target "high-net-worth" individuals, remember that income taxes once carried the same promise. Governments don’t stop at the top. They expand. They always expand. And if unrealized gains become fair game, your retirement account, your stock portfolio, and even your home, are next.