Wealth tax

"Capital tax" redirects here. For taxes on investment income, see Capital gains tax.
For the tax formerly targeting wealthy minorities in Turkey, see Varlık Vergisi.
Not to be confused with Capital levy.

A wealth tax, also called a capital tax, equity tax, or net wealth tax, is a tax on an entity's holdings of assets or an entity's net worth. This includes the total value of personal assets, including cash, bank deposits, real estate, assets in insurance and pension plans, ownership of unincorporated businesses, financial securities, and personal trusts (a one-off levy on wealth is a capital levy).

Typically, wealth taxation often involves the exclusion of an individual's liabilities, such as mortgages and other debts, from their total assets. Accordingly, this type of taxation is frequently denoted as a net wealth tax. As of 2017, five of the 36 OECD countries had a personal wealth tax (down from 12 in 1990). Proponents often argue that wealth taxes can reduce income inequality by making it harder for individuals to accumulate large amounts of wealth. Many critics of wealth taxes claim that wealth taxes can have a negative economic effect, such as declines in GDP growth or job losses.

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