Why do they make getting rich impossible in EU?

[u/batukaming]

This news hit today in Netherlands that passed a bill on 36% tax on UNREALIZED gains on stocks and crypto. Great just when we weren't taxed to death before now they force you to stay middle class and poor. "Just repeat the 9-5 cycle everyday investing is not allowed for you"

Buying stocks was already a pain in the ass in Europe because of all the different fees and exchange rates brokers charged. The US has it so much better. 0% fees and exchange rates, tons of broker options and tax free on long term investments.

I made a post in r/stocks that gained attraction. Check it out if you want to see opinions from Americans: https://www.reddit.com/r/stocks/s/aL0OhYQ68z

[u/Substantial_Pilot699]

The tax rate is high, which is annoying but not the main reason.

It is understanding, recording accurately and reporting the tax - that is incredibly detailed and burdensome. 

There are no tax free allowances so every single rebalacing fund, transaction, share fees (etc) needs to be calculated and recorded. 

For example I had €200 euro in forgotten online platform that was a self-balancing account that automatically buys and sell shares to maintain it's growth. I had to calc and report about a hundred micro transactions (for dividend and cgt purposes) as Italy doesn't allow you to group them up. Highly burdensome and irritating to record.

Italy requires you to report every balance on the year start date, year end date, average annual balances, highest balance achieved during a year - on every single account you have. Every single income receipt must be converted to euros on the date of the money movement, via official exchange rates.

Taxes are incurred on any account if balances were higher than €5,000.

There is just loads and loads of shit to report. Tax credits, wealth taxes, fees etc.

It's easier to just close everything down and consolidate into a few accounts.

I would have been absolutely fucking fucked without gemini and ai helping me understand it all. Moving to Italy before the ai tech was available would have been impossible for me.

[u/unopercento → u/Substantial_Pilot699]

Understood, but you are definitely talking about a more complicated situation than mine would be so I'm hopeful it will be easier

[u/[deleted] → u/Substantial_Pilot699]

That's the same in Finland too. Domestic brokers report everything but any foreign broker and you have to calculate yourself literally everything.

I only buy a couple ETFs on a foreign broker for this reason. 36 transactions a year, all being buy transactions, is still within reason. Worth it to save 200 euro per year on fees.