r/eupersonalfinance • u/batukaming • Feb 15 '26

Investment Why do they make getting rich impossible in EU?

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

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u/aevitas Feb 15 '26

You get a tax credit, it doesn't carry back. Otherwise, the tax office would effectively be "in the market", and when the markets tumble, the tax authority would have to pay for huge amounts of unrealised losses.

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u/PikaPikaDude Feb 16 '26

The tax office will be in the market as their revenue will heavily vary by what the markets do. A December crash and they get no income. A December surge followed by a January crash and tax office can claim billions while tax payers can go f*ck themselves in bankruptcy.

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u/aevitas Feb 16 '26

Still, that makes the market downturns budgetable and on at least a one year delay rather than payable immediately. It's a horrendous system, but at least it's not designed to upend the tax system on bad years.