Comment by hitpointdrew

Because they don't work. Many EU countries have attempted them and they have all failed. There are a host of issues with wealth taxes, one of which is simply placing value on illiquid assets is difficult. How much is that rare art price worth? Well no one knows until you put it on the market. Then there are issues with immaterial things like rights, that would be very tricky to value. What if you had the rights to all of Bill Cosby's recorded stand-up acts? That could have been valued highly before the rape convictions, now it is essentially worthless. A wealth tax would just create a battle of litigation between the wealthy and IRS, and the wealthy would win. The real solution is to just have a VAT like every other developed nation in the world, is the only way to get slice of the pie from the wealthy.