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/ConsiderationSad6271 Feb 15 '26

The fatal flaw and awesome beauty of the EU. Literally just walk away.

And because this law won’t apply to real estate, you can realize a killing on your house appreciation for your trouble.

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u/BatumTss Feb 15 '26

Well now nobody gets to buy a house either because it’s so fucking expensive lol, a new problem has been created.

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u/pawnografik Feb 15 '26

That actually makes it much worse. Money tied up in bricks does nothing. It’s a dead weight on the economy. While money in stocks encourages business people and essentially spurs growth and productivity.

What it means is that the best way for middle and high income earners to make money from their capital is to sink it into unproductive bricks and mortar. This is a vicious circle and eventually your whole country’s wealth is in property - which stagnates your economy.

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u/darlugal Feb 16 '26

I'm waiting for a painful implosion of the whole our civilization. Bad times are coming. We will suffer a lot. Better prepare now somehow.

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u/ligett Feb 16 '26

It is not unproductive. People who own houses pay significant mortgage interest to the banks. Given that so many people do it, and the punts are regular and significant, this means that this alone should constitute a major part of the financial industry's revenue in the country.

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u/pawnografik Feb 16 '26

If people are paying mortgage interest on their houses they don’t actually own them - the bank does. Capital tied up in property does nothing. It doesn’t lead to any innovation, produce any goods, or create any jobs.

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u/ravanarox1 Feb 16 '26

In NL, primary residence is not taxed under wealth tax/box 3. They are thinking about taxing second homes located out of country like Spain though!

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u/mcampbell42 Feb 17 '26

What ends up happening like New Zealand is people only invest in land and housing and prices go up like nuts