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This is true, but then a .25% haircut on their deposit accounts doesn't penalise the poor nearly as much as widely accepted existing regimes like inflation, never mind a 20% sales tax or VAT (and in practice, is only likely to occur when inflation is low and more conventional taxes are being cut)

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Your inflation point is something I had not considered.

The cost of negative interest is likely less regressive than than the existing system of inflation.

It will be interesting to see how this untested financial environment will settle to equilibrium, and what our world will look like as a consequence (like you mention, more VAT? Or fewer taxes as borrowing grows cheaper?).

It does when the poor are also in debt.

Lower interest rates are good for debtors.

They loaned under higher interest rates, and then deflation hits, that's bad.

If nobody will refinance (often more true for poor people), this puts them in a double bind.

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