I was just explaining how tax deference can be tax avoidance.

That's the key one.

The tax code, today, in practice, already frowns very much on tax deference, and tries to inhibit it when possible. The AMT-schedule is purposely designed to pull tax forward, and precisely discourage strategies for tax deference e.g. to counter the abuses that would arise by using stock-based (or cult rocks) compensation to avoid income tax.

Property tax (which is a wealth tax) is another way to siphon off tax on unrealized wealth.

AFAIK neither of those things would stop the scheme I just described.

I'm not disagreeing with you. I only added that, from a tax collector perspective, tax deference and tax avoidance are on the same spectrum, and they will seek out mechanisms to make deference impossible. I gave an example of one of these mechanisms at the federal level (AMT) and one at the municipal level (property tax). But yes, doesn't mean there are other strategies to defer ("avoid") taxes still left.