Thread by @WylerMaura

Many wonder what will happen if Trump is reelected. But what happens if Biden wins the race? Will he implement his tax reform and make the superrich pay more? And if so, would this help fight inequality? Let's hear tax expert @Florian_Scheuer thoughts on this in today's webinar👇🏻

https://twitter.com/ubscenter/status/1322980601335582730

The Webinar has started. Ernst Fehr: "The discussion about inequalities and taxes is even more important in face of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic - which creates new inequalities.
#EconTwitter #TaxTheRich #EconomicsForSociety @ubscenter

The top 1% of households ranked
by income in the U.S. earned about 12%
of total income in the early 1980s, but this
share has recently doubled to almost 25%.
@Florian_Scheuer @ubscenter @cepr_org
@UZH_en

Zooming in at the very top (billionaires) - data source is the Forbes 400 list - there has been a big change from "heirs" to "self-made" billionaires.

The top wealth has become more and more persistent over time. Self-made wealth has become as persistent as inherited wealth recently.
#EconomicsForSociety #UBSCenterForum @ubscenter

Maximum statutory rates - OECD countries compared:

While a dozen OECD countries levied wealth taxes in the recent past, only three retain them at present. Only Switzerland raises a similar fraction of revenue with its wealth tax as the recent U.S. proposals.

Capital gains are taxed at a preferentially lower rate than other income. In the U.S., the top tax rate on long-term capital gains is much lower than the top marginal tax rate on ordinary income. In Switzerland, capital gains are not taxable at all.

Now focusing on Switzerland: The wealth tax in Switzerland has a long history and in fact predates the modern income tax.

There is a defect in the income tax with regard to capital gains and bequests. The wealth tax therefore serves as a backstop to at least partly substitute for these instruments, which are commonly used in other countries but lacking in Switzerland.

Should we tax wealth? Various countries have historically used one-time wealth taxes to deal with revenue requirements, such as wartime spending shocks.

In light of the coronavirus pandemic, calls have been made for a time-limited, progressive wealth levy to stem the fiscal burden from the crisis.

This feature hinges on policy makers' ability to implement them on short notice and on their commitment not
to make them permanent or reintroduce them when similar times come about in the future.

For @Florian_Scheuer the way forward is to fix capital gains taxation.
#EconTwitter #TaxTheRich #EconomicsForSociety

@Florian_Scheuer : The discussion about tax rates must be accompanied by attention to the tax base, with a special focus on capital gains, which comprise a large fraction of the taxable income of the superrich.
@cepr_org @UZH_en
#EconTwitter #TaxTheRich #EconomicsForSociety

Check out the new Public Paper “Taxing the superrich” by @Florian_Scheuer containing more research finding on this important topic.💡
Free download on ubscenter.uzh.ch