In the early 1990s, many European countries were moving away from broad, annual net wealth taxes, often citing valuation and enforcement difficulties. At the same time, concerns about rising inequality and cross-border capital mobility helped keep the idea of taxing wealth on the international policy agenda.
Austria ended its net wealth tax in 1994, part of a broader European pattern of repealing these taxes in the 1990s and 2000s. These repeals became important reference points in later international discussions about whether wealth taxes raise enough revenue to justify their complexity.
Denmark (1997) and Germany (1997) repealed their net wealth taxes, adding momentum to the view that broad annual wealth taxes were politically and administratively hard to sustain. Later international proposals had to address these earlier experiences, especially problems with valuations and legal design.
In France, the association ATTAC was founded on 1998-06-03, initially to promote a “Tobin tax” on financial transactions. Although a financial transaction tax is not a wealth tax, this moment mattered because it helped popularize the broader idea of internationally coordinated taxes aimed at curbing inequality and financing public goals.
The Netherlands repealed its net wealth tax in 2001, continuing the European shift away from broad annual taxes on net assets. This trend later shaped international proposals, which increasingly focused on narrower bases (like real estate) or on targeting only the very richest households.
Finland, Iceland, and Luxembourg repealed their net wealth taxes in 2006. Their exits reinforced a growing international storyline: wealth taxes were often politically unpopular and technically difficult, even as inequality concerns persisted.
Sweden repealed its net wealth tax in 2007, one of the last major European repeals before the global financial crisis. After 2007, the policy debate increasingly shifted from “many countries have a wealth tax” to “only a few do,” raising questions about competitiveness and tax flight.
Spain reintroduced its wealth tax via Royal Decree-Law 13/2011, presented as a temporary measure linked to the fiscal crisis. This move showed how economic shocks could bring wealth taxation back into use, even in countries that had recently phased it down.
In January 2013, the EU approved using “enhanced cooperation” so a group of member states could try to move forward with a financial transaction tax (FTT) after EU-wide agreement proved difficult. While distinct from a wealth tax, the FTT effort became a major test case for coordinating tax measures across borders to address fairness and raise revenue.
France repealed its net wealth tax (ISF) and, starting in 2018, replaced it with a narrower tax focused on real estate wealth (IFI). The change became a central example in international debate: it showed one way to keep a “wealth-like” tax while narrowing the base to address concerns about investment and capital flight.
In April 2018, the OECD published a major review of net wealth taxes, documenting how many countries repealed them and analyzing design choices and trade-offs. The OECD noted that by 2018, Norway, Spain, and Switzerland were the only OECD countries still levying broad net wealth taxes, making them key reference models for later proposals.
Argentina enacted Law 27,605 on 2020-12-04, creating a one-time “Solidarity and Extraordinary Contribution” tied to the COVID-19 emergency. It applied to high-net-worth individuals and focused global attention on emergency wealth levies as a policy tool during crises.
Spain created a new Temporary Solidarity Tax on Large Fortunes (ITSGF) through Law 38/2022, published on 2022-12-28, initially for the 2022 and 2023 tax years. The design effectively set a national “floor” so very wealthy taxpayers would pay at least some tax even in regions that reduced or eliminated the regional wealth tax.
In 2024, Brazil’s G20 presidency elevated a proposal for internationally coordinated minimum taxation of billionaires, with economist Gabriel Zucman presenting a framework centered on a 2% minimum tax on wealth. This marked a shift from mostly national experiments toward a “global standard” approach meant to reduce tax competition and avoidance.
Colombia used emergency powers in late 2025 and early 2026 to adjust wealth-tax rules, with the tax assessed on assets held as of 2026-01-01 under the emergency decree described in reporting. This episode illustrates a recurring pattern in the timeline: wealth taxes often become politically feasible during fiscal stress, even when they are contested and subject to legal review.
International wealth tax proposals and implementations (1990–2025)