(04-10-2019, 03:23 PM)jagibelieve Wrote:

(04-10-2019, 01:34 PM)mikesez Wrote: You assume too much.
I'm not the one who says there is earned and unearned income.  The US code has said as much since at least 1975.  If you want to redefine "earned income," take that up with the government, not me.
Leave that aside.
If dividends and capital gains are essentially "earned" just like wages, should they all be treated the same for the purposes of income tax?

Nope.  Earned != Wages

If I invest x amount of dollars in a stock or ETF and it pays me dividends that is money that I earned by putting my money into it.  If I buy a stock or an ETF at say $100 per share and sell it when it reaches $150 per share the difference is money I earned while I held the stock.  If I make $10 per hour at a job that is my wage.  If I work 10 hours the $100 that I get in return is money that I earned from my wages.

See how that works?