“Supreme Court clears the way for a a wealth tax”
No they didn’t.
“If I bought my home in this fiscal year for $400,000 and within a year, it is now valued at $430,000, will I be required to pay taxes on the unrealized gain of $30,000 even if I did not sell my house and continue to live there?”
No you will not. The law referred to has been in effect since 2017. Have you heard of one single person that has been sent a tax bill on an increase in value of their home? I’ll bet you haven’t.
Excluding property taxes of course.
in my part of the world they call it “property tax”...
Not yet, but with this ruling, I'm sure there are some enterprising Gov’t types in the various states that will try to interpret the ruling that way and start sending out tax bills ... knowing that people will have to pay up first before trying to take the issue to court.
You WILL be taxed on the unrealized gain through property taxes.
And the straw man about unrealized house capital gains is NOT part of current law, and thus a specious argument. The Supreme Court has now ruled that Congress MAY someday pass such a tax, which in technical terms means “clears the way.”
In Minnesota the taxes on my home are based on what the county assessor says it’s worth. That number has tripled since I bought it 7 years ago as have my taxes.
I had no idea a coat of paint, some new windows, and carpet would triple the value of my home.
It may have never happened in the past, but if the law changes, or if the interpretation of the law changes as a result of a court case, then what happened in the past has zero bearing on what might (or will) happen in the future.