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Germany: Discontinued Finland: Discontinued Luxembourg: Discontinued Sweden: Discontinued France: Discontinued* Spain: Current Netherlands: Current Norwa

Germany: Discontinued Finland: Discontinued Luxembourg: Discontinued Sweden: Discontinued France: Discontinued* Spain: Current Netherlands: Current Norway: Current Switzerland: Current Italy: Current, but excludes assets held within the country Belgium: Current So 5 discontinued & 6 current? That doesn't seem like "Almost every single" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wealth_tax#Current_examples https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wealth_tax#Current_examples Do you have a better source for what countries had it an discontinued it? For what it's worth I am here considering Financial property exclusively, France still has it's property tax which can be considered a wealth tax. I am struggling to find write ups that don't just echo "they all repealed it" but list the specific countries.

RandomLensman 5y ago
Germany discontinued it after it was struck down by the supreme court because it only taxed liquid/easy to measure wealth. Any new wealth tax would have to extend to all forms of wealth and would therefore be very costly to administrate. Successive governments have so far refrained from creating a new version. In fairness, the "old" wealth tax did not bring a lot of revenue.
vonmoltke 5y ago
From the article you cited (just above the examples): > In 1990, about a dozen European countries had a wealth tax, but by 2019, all but four had eliminated the tax because of the difficulties and costs associated with both design and enforcement. Belgium, Norway, Spain, and Switzerland are the countries that raised revenue from net wealth taxes on individuals in 2019 with net wealth taxes accounting for 1.1% of overall tax revenues in Norway, 0.55% in Spain, and 3.6% in Switzerland for 2017. The citation for those statements links back to the OECD, so they apparently don't count the Italian and Dutch taxes as "wealth taxes". The NPR transcript linked elsewhere says only three countries have it, so that interviewee may not be counting Belgium either (since the tax is solely on financial instruments and not total wealth).
- X6S1x6Okd1st 5y ago
  Yeah I'm finding it hard to get a coherent count.
bassman9000 5y ago
In Spain The exact amount varies between regions. Wealthy regions like Madrid have abolished it. Non coincidentally, the regions that are economically doing better, and more contributing, per capita, to the central State. https://www.businessinsider.es/impuesto-patrimonio-son-diferencias-autonomias-388179 https://www.businessinsider.es/impuesto-patrimonio-son-difer...
- X6S1x6Okd1st 5y ago
  Interesting! Do you know of a good write up that captures nuances like this? Also be careful with the causality :)
  - bassman9000 5y ago
    It's been studied over and over. Lower taxes mean more economic activity, and less tax evasion. An article in Spanish https://www.elindependiente.com/economia/2021/04/25/madrid-dejara-de-recaudar-450-millones-de-euros-con-la-bajada-de-impuestos-de-ayuso/ https://www.elindependiente.com/economia/2021/04/25/madrid-d... Another one https://www.libremercado.com/2021-08-03/el-efecto-laffer-de-ayuso-madrid-logra-un-record-historico-de-recaudacion-con-los-grandes-impuestos-6806178/ https://www.libremercado.com/2021-08-03/el-efecto-laffer-de-... En concreto, la región de Díaz Ayuso recibió de la caja común apenas el 23% de lo que ingresó en 2019. Meaning that Madrid out of the 100% taxes it collects for the State, only 23% end up in Madrid. But that's still fine, because of the higher economic activity. Madrid has been accused of "tax dumping", by having way lower taxes than other regions, and still: Tanto es así, que Madrid aporta en torno al 68% del sistema de solidaridad interterritorial (más de 4.000 millones) frente al 25,5% de Cataluña o el 6,6% de Baleares. Meaning that, even with low taxes, Madrid funds 68% (+4 billion Euro) of the inter-region fund system. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laffer_curve https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laffer_curve

RandomLensman 5y ago

Germany discontinued it after it was struck down by the supreme court because it only taxed liquid/easy to measure wealth. Any new wealth tax would have to extend to all forms of wealth and would therefore be very costly to administrate. Successive governments have so far refrained from creating a new version. In fairness, the "old" wealth tax did not bring a lot of revenue.

vonmoltke 5y ago

From the article you cited (just above the examples): > In 1990, about a dozen European countries had a wealth tax, but by 2019, all but four had eliminated the tax because of the difficulties and costs associated with both design and enforcement. Belgium, Norway, Spain, and Switzerland are the countries that raised revenue from net wealth taxes on individuals in 2019 with net wealth taxes accounting for 1.1% of overall tax revenues in Norway, 0.55% in Spain, and 3.6% in Switzerland for 2017. The citation for those statements links back to the OECD, so they apparently don't count the Italian and Dutch taxes as "wealth taxes". The NPR transcript linked elsewhere says only three countries have it, so that interviewee may not be counting Belgium either (since the tax is solely on financial instruments and not total wealth).

X6S1x6Okd1st 5y ago
Yeah I'm finding it hard to get a coherent count.

bassman9000 5y ago

In Spain The exact amount varies between regions. Wealthy regions like Madrid have abolished it. Non coincidentally, the regions that are economically doing better, and more contributing, per capita, to the central State. https://www.businessinsider.es/impuesto-patrimonio-son-diferencias-autonomias-388179 https://www.businessinsider.es/impuesto-patrimonio-son-difer...

X6S1x6Okd1st 5y ago
Interesting! Do you know of a good write up that captures nuances like this? Also be careful with the causality :)
- bassman9000 5y ago
  It's been studied over and over. Lower taxes mean more economic activity, and less tax evasion. An article in Spanish https://www.elindependiente.com/economia/2021/04/25/madrid-dejara-de-recaudar-450-millones-de-euros-con-la-bajada-de-impuestos-de-ayuso/ https://www.elindependiente.com/economia/2021/04/25/madrid-d... Another one https://www.libremercado.com/2021-08-03/el-efecto-laffer-de-ayuso-madrid-logra-un-record-historico-de-recaudacion-con-los-grandes-impuestos-6806178/ https://www.libremercado.com/2021-08-03/el-efecto-laffer-de-... En concreto, la región de Díaz Ayuso recibió de la caja común apenas el 23% de lo que ingresó en 2019. Meaning that Madrid out of the 100% taxes it collects for the State, only 23% end up in Madrid. But that's still fine, because of the higher economic activity. Madrid has been accused of "tax dumping", by having way lower taxes than other regions, and still: Tanto es así, que Madrid aporta en torno al 68% del sistema de solidaridad interterritorial (más de 4.000 millones) frente al 25,5% de Cataluña o el 6,6% de Baleares. Meaning that, even with low taxes, Madrid funds 68% (+4 billion Euro) of the inter-region fund system. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laffer_curve https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laffer_curve