> Window tax was a property tax based on the number of windows in a house.
> At that time, many people in Britain opposed income tax, on principle, because the disclosure of personal income represented an unacceptable governmental intrusion into private matters, and a potential threat to personal liberty. In fact the first permanent British income tax was not introduced until 1842 [note by me: not until 1914 in France!], and the issue remained intensely controversial well into the 20th century.
But a wealth tax could cause gold to begin to "tarnish" like anything else.
yes, taxing transactions between entities makes sense, because transactions is where wealth (or value) is generated.
Taxing accumulated wealth does not make for a good policy, since this erodes stored wealth. Unless it's somehow paired with a reduction in other taxes (and thus defeat the point of the wealth tax in the first place as a way to levy more revenue to the gov't).
This is why a consumption tax is, in my opinion, the best kind of tax.
Its different from other taxes, that tax an interchange with another person or entity. That is supported by society and its mechanisms, for which government (e.g. all of us) have some responsibility.
But just to start taking what I have simply because I have it, is upsetting at a very fundamental level.