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Wealth Taxation: Lessons from History and Recent Developments

Author

Listed:
  • Emmanuel Saez
  • Gabriel Zucman

Abstract

This paper describes the historical experience of wealth taxation in Europe and draws lessons from this history for wealth taxation in the twenty-first century. We show that the wealth tax base was narrow in European countries, due to large exemptions, tax avoidance, and evasion. The paper explains why such exemptions were granted and how they undermined the European wealth taxes. Drawing from this experience, we lay out the key design and enforcement features required for a successful wealth tax in the twenty-first century and compare this ideal wealth tax to proposals recently made in the United States.

Suggested Citation

  • Emmanuel Saez & Gabriel Zucman, 2022. "Wealth Taxation: Lessons from History and Recent Developments," AEA Papers and Proceedings, American Economic Association, vol. 112, pages 58-62, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:aea:apandp:v:112:y:2022:p:58-62
    DOI: 10.1257/pandp.20221055
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Dominik Bernhofer & Michael Ertl & Katharina Bohnenberger & Franziska Disslbacher & Julia Hofmann & Petra Innreiter & Markus Marterbauer & Patrick Mokre & Matthias Schnetzer, 2022. "Tax me if you can. Potenziale moderner Vermögensbesteuerung in Österreich," Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft - WuG, Kammer für Arbeiter und Angestellte für Wien, Abteilung Wirtschaftswissenschaft und Statistik, vol. 48(2), pages 207-230.
    2. Fasianos, Apostolos & Tsoukalis, Panos, 2023. "Decomposing wealth inequalities in the wake of the Greek debt crisis," The Journal of Economic Asymmetries, Elsevier, vol. 28(C).
    3. Krenek Alexander & Schratzenstaller Margit, 2022. "A Harmonized Net Wealth Tax in the European Union," Journal of Economics and Statistics (Jahrbuecher fuer Nationaloekonomie und Statistik), De Gruyter, vol. 242(5-6), pages 629-668, December.
    4. Kruschwitz, Lutz & Löffler, Andreas & Lorenz, Daniela & Uttscheid, Moritz, 2023. "Costs of capital and wealth tax: Remarks on Bjerksund and Schjelderup (2022)," arqus Discussion Papers in Quantitative Tax Research 279, arqus - Arbeitskreis Quantitative Steuerlehre.
    5. Kantorowicz, Jaroslaw & Collewet, Marion & DiGiuseppe, Matthew & Vrijburg, Hendrik, 2024. "How to finance green investments? The role of public debt," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 184(C).
    6. Jain, Parth, 2023. "What would happen if we banned billionaires?," MPRA Paper 118679, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    7. Jain, Parth, 2023. "What would happen if we banned billionaires?," SocArXiv kuepj, Center for Open Science.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • D31 - Microeconomics - - Distribution - - - Personal Income and Wealth Distribution
    • H24 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Personal Income and Other Nonbusiness Taxes and Subsidies
    • H26 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Tax Evasion and Avoidance
    • K34 - Law and Economics - - Other Substantive Areas of Law - - - Tax Law

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