Taxing wealth: general principles, international perspectives and lessons for Brazil

ABSTRACT The international debate on wealth taxation has been subject to renewed interest amid new proposals coming out of the US electoral cycle and the salience of wealth inequality. This article reviews the case for taxing wealth and its transfer across generations (wealth and inheritance taxes), analyzing their design from an international comparative perspective, and extracting lessons for Brazil. The long-debated “Tax on Large Fortunes” has never been implemented and the state-level “Tax on Inheritances” has been watered down over time. We propose a framework for the progressive implementation and reform of both taxes in the country. We argue, given the historical record and current research, that they are technically and administratively feasible propositions, notwithstanding important political economy considerations.摘要：在美国选举周期中推出的新政策提案以及财富不平等问题日益凸显的背景下，国际学界关于财富税（wealth taxation）的讨论重新引发关注。本文梳理了对财富及其代际转移征税（即财富税与遗产税（inheritance tax））的立论依据，从国际比较视角分析其税制设计，并为巴西（Brazil）提炼可借鉴的实践经验。该国长期热议的“大额财富税（Tax on Large Fortunes）”始终未能正式实施，而各州级别的“遗产税（Tax on Inheritances）”也随时间推移不断被弱化。我们提出了在巴西逐步推进并落实这两类税种改革的实施框架。结合历史实践与现有研究成果，尽管存在诸多关键的政治经济学（political economy）考量，但我们认为，这两类税种在技术与行政层面均具备可行性。