The Wealth tax is an individual tax whose characteristic is to be applied not to an income or a transaction, but on the inheritance (i.e. which it is thus calculated according to the value of all the goods of an individual). It is a form of Redistribution of the richnesses, installation in some countries. This tax encourages sometimes the tax Expatriation the richest individuals.

In France

See also: Solidarity tax on fortune

In the other countries

Some other countries also have a tax on the inheritance similar to the STF, but the model selected is generally that of a weaker tax with a threshold of application much low (and in fact a widened chargeable base):

• Colombia, with a rate of 1,2%
• Spain, with a rate ranging between 0,2 and 2,5%
• Greece with a maximum rate of 0,8%
• Liechtenstein, with an also low threshold but a rate of 0,07%
• Norway, with a rate from 0,9% to 1,1% Swiss
• , at the cantonal level

The countries which removed it

Certain countries had this type of tax but removed it:

• Japan in 1950
• Ireland in 1974
• Italy in 1992: the STF became a tax on the real goods, except for the main home and of the agricultural land.
• Austria in 1994
• Denmark in 1997
• Germany in 1997
• Netherlands in 2001: the STF was removed and replaced by a tax of 30  % on the theoretical incomes of the capital, fixed at 4  %.
• Luxembourg in 2006
• Finland in 2006
• Sweden envisaged for 2007