3 ms·

Such a tax at the federal level is unconstitutional.

• eesmith 8y ago
  As I understand it, it's not so clear cut as that. This paper - https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3322046 https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3322046 - argues: > that the possible constitutional restrictions on a traditional wealth tax may not matter. If the Supreme Court were to find that the Constitution foreclosed a traditional wealth tax, Congress could instead tax wealth indirectly, by adjusting a taxpayer’s income tax liability on account of her wealth. This Article describes three methods for making this adjustment (collectively, “Wealth Integration” methods): A taxpayer’s wealth could affect her base of taxable income (the “Base Method”), the applicable rate schedule (the “Rate Method”) or the availability of credits against tax (the “Credit Method”). Another argues (quoted at https://downwithtyranny.blogspot.com/2019/01/yes-wealth-tax-is-constitutional.html https://downwithtyranny.blogspot.com/2019/01/yes-wealth-tax-... ) that a constitutional approach might be to "tax unrealized capital gains" and "tax corporate equity". The first wouldn't be a wealth tax per se, but most wealth is made of unrealized capital gains. The second depends on if a company counts as a 'person' under the 5th Amendment.