Is the Inheritance and Gift Tax a Reasonable Alternative for the Net Wealth Tax?: A Legal and Economic Analysis Across OECD Countries
Net wealth taxes are one of the most controversial topics in taxation. Strained government finances due to the Covid-19 pandemic and the increasing inequality in the distribution of wealth are fuelling this debate (See, for example, Wealth Tax Commission, A Wealth Tax for the UK, Final Report (2020) that refers to the need to raise substantial revenue after the pandemic). While some countries (Especially France: The net wealth tax – referred to as the ISF (impôt sur la fortune) – was abolished in 2017. See also the overview in Rainer Niemann & Caren Sureth-Sloane, Investment timing effects of wealth taxes under uncertainty and irreversibility, Journal of Business Economics 89, 385 (2019), 405) have abolished net wealth taxes, their (re)introduction is being considered in others (For example, Austria, Germany, and the United States (proposed by Senators Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders), to specify just a few of them). Unfortunately, legal and economic arguments are rarely brought together in the public discussion, and the academic tax community has remained relatively quiet. Given the politically delicate nature of net wealth taxes, an interdisciplinary discussion seems necessary.
Anderwald, A.-M. und Niemann, R. (2022): Is the Inheritance and Gift Tax a Reasonable Alternative for the Net Wealth Tax?: A Legal and Economic Analysis Across OECD Countries, in: Intertax, Vol. 50, No. 6/7, pp. 512-520.
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