The social meaning of wealth taxes

Wealth taxes are back on the political agenda of developed democracies, but are subject to contestation. Given increasing inequality, middle classes may support wealth taxes so to redistribute wealth from the rich. However, asset appreciation has become central to the realisation of life chances, so a political programme of ‘wealth taxes’ may appear threatening. This article asks: what does the prospect of increased wealth taxes mean to the middle classes? Combining a relational theory approach with a qualitative focus group study in the UK, the article highlights two especially salient meanings of wealth taxes: (1) that wealth is considered as a form of security that one builds through surplus income earned through work (thereby conflating income and wealth); which can then be (2) used to sustain an intergenerational family through the relations of inheritance. Consequently, wealth taxes take on a meaning as a double tax that penalise hardworking families.