{
  "id": 16646691,
  "title": "One of the world’s richest countries has taxed personal wealth for over a century—while also adding more millionaires",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/26/one-of-the-worlds-richest-countries-has-taxed-personal-wealth-for",
  "topic": "finance",
  "section": "Finance & Markets",
  "published": "2026-10-26T18:29:46.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Fortune",
    "slug": "fortune",
    "url": "https://fortune.com/2026/10/26/wealth-tax-rates-switzerland-california-prop-40-billionaires-us-debt-deficit-elizabeth-warren-bernie-sanders/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Switzerland stands as a beacon for the affluent, boasting the fourth highest GDP per capita at $126,177 - outshone only by Liechtenstein, Luxembourg and Ireland, whose figures are artificially inflated by multinational tax havens. Despite this financial magnetism, Switzerland imposes a wealth tax across its cantons, a practice spanning over a century. According to retired policy adviser Warren Gorlick, the success of Switzerland as a haven for wealth lies in its low tax rate.\n\nIn an op-ed published by The Washington Post, Gorlick highlighted that the Swiss wealth taxes have not deterred the rich; in fact, the number of individuals with $5 million to $10 million in assets increased by 7.4% annually from 2000 to 2025. The cantons each set their own tax rates, though the highest remain relatively modest compared to U.S. proposals. For instance, in Zurich, a married couple with a net worth of $2.5 million faces a mere 0.24% effective tax rate, equating to approximately $6,000 annually. For someone worth $1 billion, the rate is 0.7%, or $7 million per year.\n\nContrastingly, California's Proposition 40, a proposed one-time tax on individuals worth more than $1 billion, would levy a 5% tax on their assets. High-profile figures such as Google co-founder Sergey Brin and Uber co-founder Travis Kalanick have already fled California to escape such taxation. Prop 40's supporters argue that the AI boom will keep California's ultra-wealthy among the world's wealthiest, while its opponents warn that the tax may be permanent and could force wealthy individuals to sell their assets to comply. Even if Proposition 40 fails, the notion of a wealth tax is expected to persist. California Governor Gavin Newsom, who may run for president in the near future, opposes Prop 40 but advocates for a nationwide wealth tax. Senators Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders, along with Rep. Ro Khanna, have proposed a 2%, 3%, and 5% tax on wealth above $50 million and $1 billion, respectively. Even United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby has backed the idea of a national wealth tax in the U.S.\n\nNobel laureate economists supportive of Prop 40 believe it could \"kickstart a movement\" that spreads beyond California and other countries. However, Gorlick, a former Treasury adviser, cautioned that not all wealth generates regular income, and a high wealth tax rate could lead to wealthy individuals abandoning their assets. A hypothetical 0.5% tax on $1 billion in assets would amount to $5 million annually, a figure he believes would not compel billionaires to move abroad. If applied to the richest 1% of U.S. households, this tax could generate $200 billion annually. While this is a fraction of the U.S. debt of $40 trillion, or the $7.4 trillion spent in fiscal 2026, Gorlick believes that a modest wealth tax could still raise significant revenue without increasing income taxes, particularly as the U.S. plans to increase defense spending and grapples with the insolvency of the Social Security retirement trust fund in six years.",
  "summary": "In Zurich, someone with $1 billion in net worth faces a wealth tax with an effective rate of 0.7%.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}