RT Frank Smith: 9 out of 12 industrialized countries who tried a wealth tax ended up repealing it, per the NYT. That includes France, the country the ...
A tweet claims that 9 out of 12 industrialized countries that implemented a wealth tax have since repealed it, including France, citing that billionaires relocate to avoid the tax, leaving a hollowed tax base. The post argues this has already partly occurred in California and warns that a proposed California wealth tax would be catastrophic.
Background
This is a tweet by Paul Graham (tech investor and Y Combinator co-founder), reposting a comment from "Frank Smith" about a proposed California wealth tax. A wealth tax is an annual tax on a person's total net worth (assets minus debts), not just their income. California's proposal would tax the very wealthy (billionaires) on their assets. The post argues such taxes fail because wealthy people relocate to avoid them, citing the fact that 9 of 12 OECD countries that tried wealth taxes have since repealed them. France, mentioned here, had a wealth tax from 1982–2017 before replacing it with a real estate-only tax. The post warns California—which has already seen some high-profile departures of tech billionaires to Texas (no state income tax)—would suffer the same fate. This tweet was likely referencing a specific NYT article or data point, and the image may show population or tax-revenue data supporting the claim.