Which Countries Have a Wealth Tax in 2026?

A wealth tax is an annual tax on a person's total net worth — typically charged on the value of all assets (property, investments, bank accounts, business interests) minus liabilities. Unlike income tax (which taxes flows of money) or capital gains tax (which taxes specific sale events), wealth tax is levied simply for owning assets.

Most European countries experimented with wealth taxes in the 20th century but abolished them — finding they caused capital flight, administrative complexity, and raised relatively little revenue. Today, only a handful of countries maintain active annual wealth taxes. This guide covers which countries still have them, at what rates, and the key planning implications.

Countries With Active Annual Wealth Taxes

Spain

• State Wealth Tax Rate: 0.2% (above €700,000) to 3.5% (above €10.7M)
• Exempt Amount: €700,000 per individual; €300,000 additional exemption for main residence (so €1M before any tax for homeowners)
• Solidarity Wealth Tax (2023 onwards): Additional 1.7% on €3M–5M; 2.1% on €5M–10M; 3.5% above €10M — effectively replacing the wealth tax rebates some regions (Madrid) had offered
• Scope: Applies to Spain residents on worldwide net wealth; non-residents pay only on Spain-situs assets
• Business exemption: Qualifying business assets with genuine operational activity can be exempt
• Impact: Many HNW individuals have left Spain for Portugal, UAE, or other jurisdictions

Norway

• Rate: 0.35% municipal + 0.65% state = 1.0% on wealth above NOK 1.9M (2026); 0.35% + 0.75% = 1.1% above NOK 21.5M
• Scope: Norwegian residents taxed on worldwide assets
• Property Valuation: Primary home assessed at 25% of market value; holiday homes at 90%; unlisted company shares at 100% of equity value — this has caused significant controversy for family business owners
• Impact: Norway has seen significant emigration of HNW individuals (particularly business founders) to Switzerland and other cantons, accelerating since 2022 rate increases

Switzerland (Cantonal)

• Nature: Each Swiss canton levies its own wealth tax — there is no federal wealth tax
• Rates vary significantly: Zug: ~0.13–0.20% effective; Nidwalden: ~0.17%; Geneva: ~0.60%; Zurich: ~0.20–0.30%
• Threshold: Minimal — most cantons start at CHF 50,000–100,000 in net assets
• Unique feature: Swiss wealth tax applies even to relatively ordinary middle-class families; the low rates make it tolerable for most residents
• Planning: Choosing the right Swiss canton is a key wealth planning decision for HNW individuals moving to Switzerland

Netherlands (Box 3 Deemed Return)

• Not technically a wealth tax, but Box 3 taxes investment assets at a deemed 6.17% return (2024) rather than actual return — at the 36% income tax rate, effective rate ~2.2% on investment assets annually
• Threshold: €57,000 in savings and investments (2024)
• Constitutional issues: Dutch Supreme Court ruled the original Box 3 system unconstitutional; new system (Nieuw Stelsel) transitioning to actual returns from 2027

Why Most Countries Abolished Wealth Taxes

Between 1990 and 2020, most European countries that had wealth taxes abolished them. The key reasons:

• Capital flight: Wealthy individuals moved assets (and themselves) to other jurisdictions; France's wealth tax (ISF) was estimated to have driven out €35 billion in assets annually before it was abolished in 2018
• Low revenue: Wealth taxes typically generated only 0.5–1% of GDP in revenue — low relative to the economic disruption they caused
• Administrative complexity: Valuing illiquid assets (closely held businesses, art, private equity) annually is extremely difficult and dispute-prone
• Double taxation: Wealth tax is charged on assets whose income (dividends, rent, interest) is already taxed under income tax — effectively a second layer of taxation on the same economic value
• Liquidity problem: Business owners and farmers with asset-rich, cash-poor situations face forced sales to pay annual wealth tax bills
• France's lesson: When France abolished its ISF (wealth tax above €1.3M) in 2018 and replaced it with a narrow IFI (tax only on real estate), it found that wealthy individuals returned and tax revenues from other taxes increased sufficiently to offset the ISF loss

Wealth Tax Planning for International Residents

For individuals with significant wealth, wealth tax jurisdiction matters enormously:

• Spain: €10M net wealth at 3.5% solidarity wealth tax = €350,000/year in wealth tax alone; on top of income and capital gains taxes, this is a significant burden driving emigration to UAE, Portugal, or Switzerland
• Norway: NOK 50M business net worth at 1.1% = NOK 550,000/year in wealth tax — many Norwegian entrepreneurs have emigrated to Swiss cantons (particularly Zug) where the wealth tax might be only 0.15–0.20% on a similar portfolio
• Switzerland as wealth tax arbitrage: Moving from Germany (no wealth tax but high income tax) or Spain to Zug canton (0.15% wealth tax but 12% cantonal income tax) requires careful modelling — depends heavily on income vs asset composition
• Lump-sum taxation: Some Swiss cantons offer lump-sum taxation for non-working residents (tax on lifestyle expenditure, not income/wealth) — eliminating both income and wealth tax for qualifying HNW individuals