Home > Wealth (Net Worth) Tax
Some country's governments will require declaration of the tax payers balance sheet (assets and liabilities), and from that ask for a tax on net worth (assets minus liabilities), as a percentage of the net worth, or a precentage of the net worth exceeding a certain level. The tax is in place for both " natural" and in some cases legal "persons".In France the net worth tax on " natural persons" is called the " solidarity tax on wealth". In other places the tax may be called, or known as, a "Capital Tax", an "Equity Tax", a "Net Worth Tax", a "Net Wealth Tax", or just a "Wealth Tax".
Most of the governments levying this net worth tax are big spenders with a relatively high government spending to GDP rate. And in no place where this kind of tax is in place does it contribute to more than 0.3% of the total tax intake ([1]). It's therefore by some people seen as a statement of philosophy more than a considerable revenue base for the government.
Within the European Union, only France, Spain, Greece, Luxemburg, Sweden, and Finland still impose a wealth tax, although often with lower rates and higher thresholds of imposition than in France. European countries that have abandoned any tax of this type in the past five years (since 2003) are AustriaAustria is a landlocked country in Central Europe, a federation of nine states. Austria is bordered by Germany and the Czech Republic to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the, DenmarkKongeriget Danmark ( In Detail) Motto of the Queen: Guds hjaelp, Folkets kaerlighed, Danmarks styrke (English: God's help, the love of the people, Denmark's strength) Official language Danish Capital Copenhagen Kobenhavn Monarch Margrethe II Prime Ministe, the NetherlandsDutch redirects here. For other uses, see Dutch (disambiguation). The Netherlands ( Dutch: Nederland is the European part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, a constitutional monarchy. It is located in northwestern Europe and borders the North Sea, Belgium, and GermanyThe Federal Republic of Germany ( German: Bundesrepublik Deutschland is one of the world's leading industrialized countries, located in the middle of the European Union. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark and the Baltic Sea, to the east. In other countries, like BelgiumFor alternate meanings, see Belgium (disambiguation). Belgian redirects here. For the horse breed commonly used as a draft horse, see Belgian. The Kingdom of Belgium ( Dutch: Belgi French: Belgique German: Belgien is a country in Western Europe, bordered or Great BritainGreat Britain (often abbreviated as Britain is an island lying off the western coast of Europe, comprising the main territory of the United Kingdom. Great Britain is also used as a political term describing the combination of England, Scotland, and Wales,, no tax of this type has ever existed.
Because of the broad term "wealth", capital transfer taxes ( inheritance tax, gift tax ) or capital gains taxes are sometimes refered to as "wealth taxes", but that's not what this is refering to.
1 Existing net worth taxes
- France. In 2003 out of €786 billion "general government" receipts, €174 billion was collected on "income and wealth". No further breakout is disclosed. Data is from the Institut National de la Statistique et des Etudes Economiques.
- Sweden. In 2003 out of a 1,314 billion kronor "general government" revenue, 3.818 billion kronor of "wealth tax" was collected. Data is from Statistics Sweden and the IMF NSDP, Fiscal Sector, General Government Operations. The tax rate is 1.5% the net worth exceeding 1,500,000 kronor (single person, estate of deceased person (dödsbo), Non-profit institutions serving households (familjestiftelse)), or 2,000,000 kronor (married). And 0.15% on the net worth exceeding 25,000 kronor for any other legal person. ([2]) (2002)
