Wealth Tax: Isn’t that the taxes I pay on the property I own? Every year I pay, and you do to. taxes on our houses and equipt that we have paid for with after tax dollars.
I’m sure the rich people pay property taxes also on everything they own.
Why should I have to pay taxes year after year on property I purchased 20 yrs ago? Why should I have to pay property taxes on vehicles that I already paid sales tax on with after tax dollars?
Real property is only a fraction of the total assets owned by the wealthy (on average). Municipal property taxes are, to some extent, correlated to the cost of municipal services received by the property owner. More expensive properties generally receive more services. It’s not perfect; but, there’s a degree of “user-pay” to the municipal tax system. A general wealth tax has little or no relationship to the value of services received from the government. Such a tax would be unfair, inefficient, and counter-productive.