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Wealth Tax is usually understood to be the tax imposed on wealth transfer, for example when a wealthy person dies and the estate passes on to his heirs Agree t

Wealth Tax is usually understood to be the tax imposed on wealth transfer, for example when a wealthy person dies and the estate passes on to his heirs Agree to disagree. What you’ve described is an Estate Tax or Gift Tax, which are not the same thing as a Wealth Tax. A Wealth Tax is usually defined as a tax on the net wealth a person holds; transfers are not necessary. This is how both Wikipedia and Investopedia define it.

rmk 5y ago
In the USA, Estate Tax is synonymous with Wealth Tax, and it is the commonly-understood usage. There are very few countries that tax (financial) assets where no gain is realized (i.e., they are not sold or exchanged). The Netherlands (and a handful of other European countries) have the system of taxing unrealized gains, but this usage of 'Wealth Tax' is pretty much obsolete all over the world.
- kevinventullo 5y ago
  In the USA, Estate Tax is synonymous with Wealth Tax, and it is the commonly-understood usage. That is simply not true. - Estate Taxes are about taxing the transfer of assets upon someone’s death. - Wealth taxes are about taxing the overall net wealth someone has at a given point in time. Gains have little to do with it; there could be ten billion dollars in cash under your mattress and you would still be subject to a hypothetical wealth tax. In case you are not convinced, here are an overwhelming number of links using this definition: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wealth_tax https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wealth_tax https://www.investopedia.com/terms/w/wealth-tax.asp https://www.investopedia.com/terms/w/wealth-tax.asp https://www.pgpf.org/blog/2021/03/what-is-a-wealth-tax-and-should-the-united-states-have-one https://www.pgpf.org/blog/2021/03/what-is-a-wealth-tax-and-s... https://taxfoundation.org/wealth-tax/ https://taxfoundation.org/wealth-tax/ https://berniesanders.com/issues/tax-extreme-wealth/ https://berniesanders.com/issues/tax-extreme-wealth/

rmk 5y ago

In the USA, Estate Tax is synonymous with Wealth Tax, and it is the commonly-understood usage. There are very few countries that tax (financial) assets where no gain is realized (i.e., they are not sold or exchanged). The Netherlands (and a handful of other European countries) have the system of taxing unrealized gains, but this usage of 'Wealth Tax' is pretty much obsolete all over the world.

kevinventullo 5y ago
In the USA, Estate Tax is synonymous with Wealth Tax, and it is the commonly-understood usage. That is simply not true. - Estate Taxes are about taxing the transfer of assets upon someone’s death. - Wealth taxes are about taxing the overall net wealth someone has at a given point in time. Gains have little to do with it; there could be ten billion dollars in cash under your mattress and you would still be subject to a hypothetical wealth tax. In case you are not convinced, here are an overwhelming number of links using this definition: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wealth_tax https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wealth_tax https://www.investopedia.com/terms/w/wealth-tax.asp https://www.investopedia.com/terms/w/wealth-tax.asp https://www.pgpf.org/blog/2021/03/what-is-a-wealth-tax-and-should-the-united-states-have-one https://www.pgpf.org/blog/2021/03/what-is-a-wealth-tax-and-s... https://taxfoundation.org/wealth-tax/ https://taxfoundation.org/wealth-tax/ https://berniesanders.com/issues/tax-extreme-wealth/ https://berniesanders.com/issues/tax-extreme-wealth/