There is an obvious point to make, which is that case for a wealth tax on such extraordinary levels of wealth is overwhelming, to be paid by all those with British citizenship wherever resident.
Billionaires have £680 billion or so. British household wealth is £15 trillion or so. So, rich people having 4.5% of what makes people rich is justification for taxing people living in foreign, is it?
Why isn’t he paying Irish income tax?
Don’t think he requires any justification to tax someone else Tim. Just the ability to lay his hands on the loot.
Day One: Brits must be taxed by the UK worldwide regardless of residence.
Day Two: Foreigners must be taxed in the UK if they’re in the UK.
What happens when more than one country adopts point one?
Day Three: UK must tax all foreigners living abroad. Yep, he has actually advocated this, he has demanded that, eg, Monaco-ans living in Monaco must be taxed by the UK.
Monegasques s’il vous plait, jgh! My father-in-law was one. You’ve more chance of pissing rainbows than getting tax out a Monegasque.
So if you are taxed on the unrealised ‘wealth’ of your home and then it is burned down, flooded out or swept away by a land slip can you claim a tax refund?
I’m actually coming round to the idea of a wealth tax. Every day I hear Britain’s wealthiest bleating about what “we” must do about climate change, while themselves maintaining jetset lifestyles and the carbon footprint of a small African nation.
Let’s have the wealthiest fund the ‘zero carbon transition’ they are so keen on.
I saw an estimate that Britain’s wealthiest 1% has total wealth of £2.8 trillion. Let’s knock off £800 billion for the value of primary homes and stick a 2% annual levy on the rest, to be spent on insulation, heat pumps, windmills etc.
Name and shame the Gaia-hating avoiders.
I’ve read all Tim’s arguments against wealth taxes but I don’t believe they apply in this instance as the primary function of the tax is to show up the hypocrisy of wealthy greenies.
Nice idea MC. But I’m sure they’d push the tax onto the rest of us. With an extra large share given to them personally as compensation for the plebs not giving them ten times the tax because they’re so beautifully green.