My house is an asset on my balance sheet. I haven't sold my home or rented it out, it has no direct or indirect income to me. The house has some theoretical value, which is assessed by the government, and on that value I am paying taxes. Is this not a tax on an "unrealized gain?"
Why can't stock and other similar asset classes be treated similarly? I can always pay my homeowner's tax, why couldn't the In-n-Out owner pay a wealth tax? Clearly they're deriving a lot of value from owning stock such that they're able to enjoy a much higher standard of living, clearly there is some ability to pay.
I don't buy into this idea that this disincentivizes private ownership, much less make it infeasible. This is also done elsewhere and it seems... fine? People in Norway seem to still start companies.