[nhannah]

A wealth tax? A good at 5000 with VAT is 6000 to buy that at 40% tax you need to earn 8400. With this system (assuming VAT remains, which in will because of EU law) you need to earn 6180 to buy the product a 2220 difference...but a 240 bill shows up every year for you owning said product (assume jewelry for 0 depreciation) so after 10 years you are better off on the old system.

Honestly this will simply encourage people to find loop holes in the system to avoid property ownership. And it's really what the right in the US mean when they say class warfare, it's just another clever way to shift the tax burden on the wealthy more. If that is what is wanted just shift up the 0 tax income limit and raise the top tax, no need to fuck around trying to seem like the goal is anything different.

[rayhano]

Yes, you're right that this is shift of tax burden on the wealthy.

But wrong on the avoidance... how would you avoid property ownership?

[nhannah]

I live in Denmark, and can say there are many ways people do it here. Most common (from what I have seen as an American here) is to own a small business and use it to shift around ownership of things such as apt's and cars as tax on business is very different than personal...Google Danish car tax for more info on why.

[sbmassey]

Sell up and buy stuff abroad.

Or, since you mentioned above that the tax is on net property ownership, get a loan in the UK to the amount you own there, and buy stuff abroad with it.