>Third party marketplaces sprung up for reservations, and idk it’s been a while since I went to fancy dinner, but I imagine the restaurants have just started charging. Or at least the first party reservation sites do.
Yes, this is what Tock is for. It's not clear to me that it's a bad thing. It replaces the old $20 in a handshake I used to do with the maitre d at the front of the restaurant. Democratizes opportunity and improves transparency
> On March 23, 2026, the Hong Kong government changed the implementing rules relating to the National Security Law. It is now a criminal offense to refuse to give the Hong Kong police the passwords or decryption assistance to access all personal electronic devices including cellphones and laptops. This legal change applies to everyone, including U.S. citizens, in Hong Kong, arriving or just transiting Hong Kong International Airport. In addition, the Hong Kong government also has more authority to take and keep any personal devices, as evidence, that they claim are linked to national security offenses.
The commentary did not in fact say "there was no need for regulation because the cosmetic industry in both the US and the UK had ensured that their products were virtually free of asbestos fibre." The link in the Lancet post is broken, but here is the 1977 commentary: https://www.thelancet.com/pdfs/journals/lancet/PIIS0140-6736...
What it in fact says: "In summary, there is no reason to believe that normal consumer exposure to cosmetic talc has in the past led either to cancer at any site or to measurable loss of lung function. It seems unlikely that future exposure to cosmetic talc of the specifications now agreed to by major manufacturers will present a health hazard."
> A circadian clock must be self-sustained and internally driven, as the 20-hour cycle of the jellies’ spawning is. It must also be regulated by an environmental stimulus such as light; while the jellies’ spawning clock can run on a 20-hour cycle under persistent light in the lab, in nature it resets every day.
Are you aware of a policy that allows Strava when within sight of shore, but bans it when under more sensitive operation?
Or is this article perhaps better interpreted as an example of a dangerous behavior that could be happening also during those sensitive times (in which case, it is unlikely that French media would be even running a story with a map of the sensitive location)?
If I understand correctly, the "buy borrow die" strategy of tax avoidance hinges on these aspects of the tax code: Buying an asset is not a taxable event. Holding onto an asset and letting it appreciate is not a taxable event. Borrowing money is not a taxable event. Holding an appreciated asset until death will step up its cost basis to the current market value (thus erasing any capital gains taxes), and it can be passed on but large amounts will trigger inheritance taxes.
In the Canadian approach, as I understand it, all capital gains taxes are assessed upon disposition; including disposition at death.
In the US approach, capital gains disposed at death avoid capital gains taxes.
Here are two similar scenarios where the difference in actions is small, but the difference in net estate distributed to heirs is large.
Both scenarios: Parent P buys (split adjusted) 100,000 shares AMZN on Jan 3, 2000 at close for $4.47. Parent P has no other assets.
Scenario 1: Parent P sells March 9, 2026 at close for $213.49 per share; realizing $209.02 in capital gains per share, ~ $20.9M capital gains, $21.4M proceeds. Parent P dies March 10, 2026. If cap gains tax is 20% uniformly (which it isn't), ~ $4.2M goes to income tax, the estate at time of death is $17.2M. If estate tax is uniformly 40% of amounts over $15M (which it isn't), the estate tax is about ~ $0.9M, and the net estate is $16.3M
Scenario 2: Parent P dies March 10, 2026, without selling. The estate promptly sells at close for $214.33. $21.4M proceeds, ~ $20.9M capital gains, but no capital gains tax is due. Again assuming 40% estate tax over $15M, estate tax is $2.6M and the net estate is $18.8M
How is it fair for the heirs of Parent P in scenario 2 to get so much more than in scenario 1 when the circumstances are so similar?
If you use actual tax brackets, you could make the example numbers more accurate, but I don't think it will change the results significantly.
Have you considered these factors when considering fairness..?
1) Many estates contain illiquid assets- family farms, small businesses, etc. Forcing a deemed disposition at death can force heirs to sell just to pay the tax bill
2) Death isn't a voluntary transaction, and cannot be forecast well, so we are essentially creating an arbitrary tax event/hardship
3) Determining original cost basis across decades of an ancestor's holdings can create an enormous administrative burden for heirs
4) Bunching all accumulated gains in a single year at death will push the estate into an artificially high marginal tax bracket
5) Taxing gains at death discourages long-term wealth building and pushes people toward consumption instead of investment
IMHO, these are reasonable things to consider, and I acknowledge the hardships. However, my opinion is that similar circumstances leading the similar outcomes is the most fair, and wiping out unrealized capital gains at death can easily result in similar circumstances having unsimilar outcomes.
Specific suggestions or responses to your list:
1) Reasonable alternatives to assessing capital gains tax, due immediately exist. The cost basis could be transfered, as in a gift while living (point 3 applies however); or the tax could be assessed and recorded as a lien on the property, possibly with payment over several years.
2) Death isn't generally voluntary or scheduled or easy to predict a specific date. However, it is easy to forecast that everyone alive today will die at some point. No specific advice other than planning for your estate is something people should probably do once a decade or so.
3) I agree. Especially with assets like homes where cost basis isn't simply the purchase price but also includes improvements. At least for stocks and mutual funds, record keeping requirements for brokerages changed so they have to keep cost basis information in most cases, which helps a lot; but doesn't help for real estate or other capital assets. This is a hard one, and I recognize the value that a step up in basis provides, but I still find it unfair.
4) Yes. It would be nice if there was a way to spread capital gains over many years; not just for the deceased. Perhaps a carryback or carryforward. Or an enhanced 0% capital gains bracket for the deceased or for property disposed upon death; possibly with a carryback to help those who sold capital assets to pay for multi-year end-of-life care and etc.
5) Certainly, avoiding capital gains tax by dieing with unrealized capital gains is an incentive to not sell capital investments. I don't know that it encourages wealth building. Incentivising people to not sell things with unrealized capital gains at end of life causes problems for people too: waiting to sell someone's house, even though they moved into a care home and will never move back distorts the housing market; many people refuse to spend their savings, even when adequate, and instead rely on financial help from relatives or suffer hardships from lack of spending.
401k and home ownership count as "wealthy" in many circles. It's not "I can do whatever I want any time" wealth, but it does still mean "this is not an option for people who likely need it the most" which is the real issue.
How are income taxes a serious burden on “people who likely need it the most”?
Those who truly need it the most are typically well into the plus column on government transfer payments: On net, the government is paying them far more than they’re paying it.
Talking about homes: if a wealthy person see a depreciation of the equity they have a parachute (more homes, stocks, etc), if middle class sees a depreciation of the equity they're on the street. The risk profile is absolutely not the same.
Yes, this is what Tock is for. It's not clear to me that it's a bad thing. It replaces the old $20 in a handshake I used to do with the maitre d at the front of the restaurant. Democratizes opportunity and improves transparency
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