Quote:
Originally Posted by GGG
They would be taxed 4%-5% plus inflation on all total wealth regardless of form. So a person worth 5 billion would face a 250 million dollar tax bill. How they pay it is up to them. This tax would disappear once wealth dropped below 1 billion. In theory this creates an incentive to put perform the average market performance as otherwise they lose wealth.
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The issue is that it's too easy to evade taxation. Ultra HNW already shield their assets in corporations in tax havens, but for personal taxation it's simply too easy move to where they pay less/no tax.
It's why Britain's richest man lives in Monaco, even though he owns a massive UK business.
Even guys with 'only' $100m move to tax free jurisdictions. Dave Portnoy of One Bite Pizza fame spends 6 months of the year in Florida to claim that as his taxation residence.
Even if somehow all developed countries had a tax on billionaires (which will never happen), Billionaires can just move to an island nation for their primary residence, and spend a month or two in London, Paris, NYC, Tokyo, San Fran and evade local taxation.
I don't see an easy way to eliminate loopholes, though I suppose you could make access to a country's market dependent on profits staying subject to that countries personal taxation laws, but eventually that means less access to capital for Canadian businesses, which could suck.
You'd also need someway to ensure when equity in a business is sold there is local taxation, which I think would be hard. For example, if I start an oil company in Alberta that extracts Alberta resources, but own the stock in this company through a Cayman Island numbered company, when I sell my company, the money never comes through Alberta, so there is no tax paid.