You cannot do that with private companies. It is only restricted to public securities. And even these are not owner/investor stocks (which are locked for a certain period after company goes public via IPO). These are typically fresh stocks issued before company goes public.
> This is not a universal truth.
What is the evidence for it working otherwise? Every Country that has tried Wealth Tax has rolled it back.
> A lesser gain is not a loss.
It is not a capital gains tax (which already exists). Wealth tax is a tax on unrealized gains. It definitely leads to erosion of stock value.
> 1) Why not. 2) Sounds like someone needs an income (which is already taxed and would have solved much of the tax avoidance).
You have just encountered a classic Catch-22 here. Without income, you cannot pay tax. Without paying tax, you have no revenue and hence no income.
Both Norway and Switzerland has a wealth tax still. The only reason other countries rolled it back was just a bidding war for perceived investments, in other words tragedy of the commons.
> It is not a capital gains tax (which already exists). Wealth tax is a tax on unrealized gains. It definitely leads to erosion of stock value.
If you're holding stocks that never increase in value, I don't think this is a credible assumption.
> You have just encountered a classic Catch-22 here. Without income, you cannot pay tax. Without paying tax, you have no revenue and hence no income.
No, I'm indicating that the avoidance of an income is specifically to avoid tax, not because of an inability to produce an income.