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> As a practical matter, it is very difficult to tax wealth (and even harder to do it fairly.) Switzerland does it and it seems to work pretty well.

ChuckNorris89 4y ago
Can you give some details for the non initiated?
- Leherenn 4y ago
  You declare all the assets you own* in your tax declaration (bank accounts, properties, art, cars, equity, ...), even if abroad. You also declare your debts. I don't know how they enforce/check that, especially for foreign-based assets though. * except for household and personal common usage goods
  - ChuckNorris89 4y ago
    OK, cool, but you didn't explain how does that fix wealth inequality in Switzerland or make wealth taxation fair? You just described a tax declaration system, not a taxation system. Anyone can declare assets anywhere but if they're not taxed, or taxed very little, then inequality grows. So does Switzerland do this better or fairer than other countries?
    - eertami 4y ago
      Because you pay a percentage of your total wealth in annual taxes every year (in addition to your usual income taxes). It differs between cantons (states, kinda) and has progressive banding. Someone with 100k in wealth will pay maybe 100-200 or so. If you have 100 million CHF, in Geneva you would pay around 1 million per year in taxes on that wealth. As the OP stated, it is global assets and wealth, so foreign/offshored investments still attract the tax. Plenty of people choose to be resident in Switzerland even with these taxes.
    - Leherenn 4y ago
      Well, you asked how it worked, not whether it was effective at fighting inequality. My understanding is that it's not very effective, because any foreign-held asset is pretty much hidden from Switzerland, unless there's an agreement with the country for this kind of information.
- tgsovlerkhgsel 4y ago
  You pay a (progressive) % of your wealth in tax every year, based on your declaration. Financial institutions report your wealth (to some extent), and the development of wealth is checked against your income, making tax evasion non-trivial. You could hide the money in a shoebox but you'll lose more in opportunity cost (missed investment gains) than you'll save on tax. The other side of the coin though is that capital gains generally aren't taxed. Mainly, I don't agree that "it is very difficult to tax wealth". It's basically a box "your wealth: <enter number here>" on the tax declaration, with an extra spreadsheet/list to fill out showing what the wealth consists of, plus proof (e.g. bank/stock account statements).
  - deleted 4y ago
    [deleted]

ChuckNorris89 4y ago

Can you give some details for the non initiated?

Leherenn 4y ago
You declare all the assets you own* in your tax declaration (bank accounts, properties, art, cars, equity, ...), even if abroad. You also declare your debts. I don't know how they enforce/check that, especially for foreign-based assets though. * except for household and personal common usage goods
- ChuckNorris89 4y ago
  OK, cool, but you didn't explain how does that fix wealth inequality in Switzerland or make wealth taxation fair? You just described a tax declaration system, not a taxation system. Anyone can declare assets anywhere but if they're not taxed, or taxed very little, then inequality grows. So does Switzerland do this better or fairer than other countries?
  - eertami 4y ago
    Because you pay a percentage of your total wealth in annual taxes every year (in addition to your usual income taxes). It differs between cantons (states, kinda) and has progressive banding. Someone with 100k in wealth will pay maybe 100-200 or so. If you have 100 million CHF, in Geneva you would pay around 1 million per year in taxes on that wealth. As the OP stated, it is global assets and wealth, so foreign/offshored investments still attract the tax. Plenty of people choose to be resident in Switzerland even with these taxes.
  - Leherenn 4y ago
    Well, you asked how it worked, not whether it was effective at fighting inequality. My understanding is that it's not very effective, because any foreign-held asset is pretty much hidden from Switzerland, unless there's an agreement with the country for this kind of information.
tgsovlerkhgsel 4y ago
You pay a (progressive) % of your wealth in tax every year, based on your declaration. Financial institutions report your wealth (to some extent), and the development of wealth is checked against your income, making tax evasion non-trivial. You could hide the money in a shoebox but you'll lose more in opportunity cost (missed investment gains) than you'll save on tax. The other side of the coin though is that capital gains generally aren't taxed. Mainly, I don't agree that "it is very difficult to tax wealth". It's basically a box "your wealth: <enter number here>" on the tax declaration, with an extra spreadsheet/list to fill out showing what the wealth consists of, plus proof (e.g. bank/stock account statements).
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]