Summary: PVDA, PS have wealth tax in their campaigns.
Bureau du plan/Plan bureau think this is a bad idea because:
(1) you’d have to inventory all property and debt of everyone who has to pay tax in Belgium. This is administratively tremendous burden, and a huge intrusion into private life.
(2) It’s difficult to assess the value of some items, like family juwelry, or a non-public company (example: a local car repair shop can have worse books than a chain car shop, but people trust them more. What’s the value for their “brand name”?). (Example: a piece of art that has sold at 200kEUR, 4 million EUR, and 1 million EUR: how should this be valued in the wealth estimation?)
(3) Capital flight: the EU commissio estimated implicit taxes on wealth to be 38% in Belgium, second highest of EU. This is the private wealth that makes it way into the state budget by transaction, inheritance, … tax.
(4) triple taxation: double taxation is normal in belgium (taxed as you make money, taxed when you spend it). Wealth tax would create triple taxation.
Planbureau suggests instead:
(1) realistic propery tax, instead of KI/revenu kadastral.
(2) tax on stocktransactions.
(3) stock appreciation tax.
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Summary: PVDA, PS have wealth tax in their campaigns.
Bureau du plan/Plan bureau think this is a bad idea because:
(1) you’d have to inventory all property and debt of everyone who has to pay tax in Belgium. This is administratively tremendous burden, and a huge intrusion into private life.
(2) It’s difficult to assess the value of some items, like family juwelry, or a non-public company (example: a local car repair shop can have worse books than a chain car shop, but people trust them more. What’s the value for their “brand name”?). (Example: a piece of art that has sold at 200kEUR, 4 million EUR, and 1 million EUR: how should this be valued in the wealth estimation?)
(3) Capital flight: the EU commissio estimated implicit taxes on wealth to be 38% in Belgium, second highest of EU. This is the private wealth that makes it way into the state budget by transaction, inheritance, … tax.
(4) triple taxation: double taxation is normal in belgium (taxed as you make money, taxed when you spend it). Wealth tax would create triple taxation.
Planbureau suggests instead:
(1) realistic propery tax, instead of KI/revenu kadastral.
(2) tax on stocktransactions.
(3) stock appreciation tax.