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> ideologically a wealth tax presupposes that all wealth is bad Isn't it the same as saying that income tax presupposes that all income is bad. We should tax w
by perfunctory 8y ago
> ideologically a wealth tax presupposes that all wealth is bad
Isn't it the same as saying that income tax presupposes that all income is bad. We should tax wealth not because wealth is bad but because doing so might have a positive effect on society.
> How would a wealth tax differ from a capital gains tax?
capital gains tax taxes realised return on capital. wealth tax is based on the total wealth regardless of it's performance.
- benj111 8y agoRe ideology. Its an choice between 2 similar taxes. And there are many, many reasons for structuring taxes. Re captial gains tax. Over the very long term, you would expect your investments to at least track inflation, and you would expect to sell of those investments to buy things. Its not clear to me that these 2 taxes necessarily end up very different. Should we not expect to get at least a flavour of what to expect by looking at capital gains tax?
- perfunctory 8y agoI am curious to see the comparison as well. I suppose one difference is that capital gain tax can be delayed far into the future. Wealth tax could also have a cooling effect on stock market bubbles.
- cr1895 8y agoCapital gains tax might also be a tax deduction due to a loss of capital. With a wealth/asset tax it doesn't matter if you actually gain or lose.