Flat-rate capital gains tax throwing a wrench in viability of FIRE?

[WFJ]

I was not considering the social safety net the higher taxes provide. The average may be the same in the societies but US ERE would most likely result in left skew wealth compared to EU ERE followers. Although the wealth tax, along with the income tax, if passed will eventually trickle it's way down to anyone with commas in their new worth and wealth distribution corves would converge.

[oldbeyond]

Taxes on capital differ a lot and should be a major factor in how you choose to invest. Here in Sweden you can choose between 30% flat (on realized capital gains and dividends received) or 0.375% of assets (different types of accounts). This certainly necessitates more capital. The asset based tax gives you a lot of flexibility, though, as it’s completely agnostic towards how many trades you make/your capital gains.

[oldbeyond]

Taxes on capital make up about 3.4% of the total collected here so they could certainly be elminated without dismantling the welfare state. I would guess that the proportions are similar across Europe. But jacobs point perhaps related more to the tax system as a whole and not taxes on capital specifically.