[ttymck]

"allow anyone else to buy any of those assets for the declared value"

How would this work?

[JumpCrisscross]

> How would this work?

Private ownership would become impractical for the hoi polloi.

The wealthy would need to pay a new class of bureaucrats to keep asset values up to date, to continuously incorporate new information into their marks. Everyone else would be better off renting--owning a car would be risky as it could be snatched from you at a moment's notice due to an overnight shift in the metal markets.

Remarkably similar to a feudal system, actually.

EDIT: What am I thinking, you'd just move all your financial assets overseas and maintain as little real property as possible domestically. The same thing folks do in the Gulf countries where the monarch gets stealsy from time to time.

[londons_explore]

Bob declared his car to be worth $18k in 2023. Fred fills in an official form, pays $18k to bob, and takes bobs car. Perhaps a 1 month handover period is given, and perhaps a 10% 'hostile sale' fee is given to the government to prevent abuse of the system to take houses from grannies.

Lets say any item worth over $10k (including cars, land, houses, companies, etc) would be part of the system.

Another way of looking at it is "all items in the nation are always for sale, and if you don't want to sell you better choose a high price".

Obviously if you don't want your stuff taken, declare a high value. But you'll pay a bit more tax for the privilege.

[s1artibartfast]

Perhaps we could institute a similar law for people and tax their self reported value of their time/labor. If you under-report you can be press-ganged into slavery for a specified duration, say 1 year.

This would ensure that people's labor and their bodies would be put to the most efficient economical use as well as increase tax revenue.

It would also solve the problem of undercompensating of workers. If your employer values your experience and knowledge, they would have to pay a premium for it, otherwise a competitor would buy you out from under them.

[JumpCrisscross]

> perhaps a 10% 'hostile sale' fee is given to the government to prevent abuse of the system to take houses from grannies

So Bob is not only out a car, but down $1,800k to boot?

[ttymck]

Surely you can't be serious. Say, in this fantasy world, my car appreciates $3k. Can Fred still pay $18k before I have a chance to re-assess?

[whatshisface]

If you show up at the tax assessor's office with a check for more than the self-reported value of my home, realistically plus the premium the government pays in eminent domain cases, you get the title. That idea is pretty much "eminent domain for all."

[jermaustin1]

This is terrible. I don't want to loose a priceless family heirloom (grandma's Sheraton-style rocking chair from 1890s) just because someone wants it and can write a check for $1 more than the assessed value. That discounts sentimental value. And if I now have to declare sentimental value and pay taxes on it, I'd rather burn it to the ground (grandma would approve).

[BobaFloutist]

That seems really annoying to deal with. It's possible it would lead to a better society eventually, but in the short term I'd rather speculators not buy my shitbox car out from under me because they spotted the chip shortage before I did.

[Detrytus]

There’s a similar concept with real estate taxes in some countries: you pay your tax based on self-reported valuation, but if you sell for a price that’s higher than this valuation then you have to pay adjusted tax for like 5 years back.