I've written for @CapX today about the final report of the Wealth Tax Commission, which was published yesterday. As I see it, the report essentially torpedoes the idea that a proper UK wealth tax system could work. (1/8) https://capx.co/the-wealth-tax-commission-have-ended-up-torpedoing-the-case-for-a-wealth-tax/

The Commission has concluded that many of the traditional objections to a wealth tax can be overcome if you just do a single, one-off levy. People can't avoid it because valuations will be made before announcement. You don't have to construct a complex, permanent new tax. (2/8)

Investment and savings won't be damaged if it's 'credibly one-off', i.e. nobody thinks it'll happen again. In theory there's some reasonable points here, though I question whether investors will simply go 'oh it's just a one-off' and ignore a quarter-trillion pound tax grab (3/8)

But the Commission acknowledge that it only works as a one-off, and an ongoing annual wealth tax would be a nightmare to run, would alter behaviour in ways which damage the economy, and would have a high level of avoidance. (4/8)

What they don't do is explain what the point of a massive one-off wealth raid is. What really matters for fiscal sustainability is long-term structural balance. As @julianHjessop has been saying recently, we are going to have higher debt levels but they're manageable. (5/8)

A big levy might let you reduce your debt to GDP ratio right now but it does nothing to ensure it isn't going to rise every year in the following decades. For that you'd need a permanent tax, and the Wealth Tax Commission admit a wealth tax of this kind is unworkable. (6/8)

They say that instead of an annual wealth tax the priority should be reforming the dysfunctional and outdated ways we already tax wealth and property. On this I'm with them totally, especially council tax, which is regressive and hasn't been revalued since 1991. (7/8)

So basically the Wealth Tax Commission have, in my view, made a very good case against the general concept of wealth taxes. Their case for a workable wealth tax rests on it being a one-off, and as far as I can see that would be largely pointless. (8/8)