Have cash? Inflation (cheapens govt debt)
Own Property? Property Taxes.
Own Equity? capital gains on realization of profits
Get Dividends? Dividends are taxed.
Income? Taxed.
Virtual every form of wealth is taxed. The question should be how much should it be taxed, and enforcement. A wealth tax is a nice song and dance around the issue and cannot be reasonably implemented hence why it's in the zeitgeist.
Inflation is not really tax, more exogenous parameter of monetary system. It does not give much advantage to government (as expected inflation rate is accounted in bond rate).
Property tax would make more sense as a tax on limited resource than as a wealth tax.
say you had a 100m in stock. did nothing but borrow against it until you die. how much tax would you pay. as long as you borrow less than your stock appreciates.
Have cash? Inflation (cheapens govt debt) Own Property? Property Taxes. Own Equity? capital gains on realization of profits Get Dividends? Dividends are taxed. Income? Taxed.
Virtual every form of wealth is taxed. The question should be how much should it be taxed, and enforcement. A wealth tax is a nice song and dance around the issue and cannot be reasonably implemented hence why it's in the zeitgeist.