A watertight wealth tax
Wherever the topic of a wealth tax comes up the neoliberal media is quick to spin it as unworkable due to the problem of capital flight, and we never hear anyone seriously push back on this point. At best a wealth tax advocate might suggest setting the tax so low that the rich will pay it voluntarily.
I’m convinced they intentionally promote a straw man version of wealth tax to discredit the idea and to ensure that if one ever does get enacted it will be low and easy to avoid.
The problem of capital flight is quite easy to avoid if you actually try. The US levies income tax on all citizens, not just those who reside within the country, but nobody ever suggests this as a solution to the problem of capital flight.
It makes the tax impossible to avoid legally, and doesn’t disincentivise foreign investment.
I’m sure someone will say that the rich will just renounce their citizenship, but there’s a simple solution to that problem - the state can just say no. Once a tax citizen, always a tax citizens, and your children inherit that status automatically.
What about people who flee and refuse to come back? Simple, try them for tax evasion in a tribunal system where they can’t buy better representation. Create a rule that they have to attend in person or they lose by default. The minimum sentence is the death penalty, but it will be cancelled if they just pay up. Once the judgement is in the government sends assassins or puts a bounty on their head.
Since we don’t need to depend on the rich paying voluntarily we can set the rate of the wealth tax at a high enough level for it to actually be useful. Say 10-20%.
Why do we never hear this steel man wealth tax mentioned by the neoliberal media?