Yep that's pretty much it. And in France (I believe most of rich Europe as well), there are mandatory "social contribution" on capital gains which are collected

Yep that's pretty much it. And in France (I believe most of rich Europe as well), there are mandatory "social contribution" on capital gains which are collected directly by the banks. So if you don't have much money "working" for you, they will take a good part of whatever small gains you made. So it doesn't go down, but the gains are so small it's kinda pointless. Of course, those who can save a lot every year get compounding benefits quite fast, but is a class that is becoming more rare every year passing.