A wealth tax implies a tax on unrealized appreciated assets, which is beyond bizarre IMHO. So you buy a house for $500k somewhere. It surges in value to $1.2 million. You therefore have an unrealized capital gain of $700k. You are NEVER going to get that money until you sell it, and when you do you are going to pay a whopping amount of capital gain tax. But a wealth tax implies you pay that capital gain tax now. Okay so let's say you do. Then a year later there is a major correction to the real estate market (hmmm ... 2008). Your $1.2 million property (on which you paid a huge amount of wealth tax) is now worth say $700k. Do you get a tax refund? You never got the income. You should never pay the tax. No different if it is a $500k property or a $1 trillion company. It is not wealth until you have it.