There has been some debate in the Democratic Party on the subject of a federal wealth tax. I know that there is some debate about the constitutionality of a wealth tax, but for the purpose of this question, I would either assume that the wealth tax is constitutional or that the states were enacting this law to test its constitutionality.

U.S. News & World Report states that 40% of billionaires in the United States live in either New York or California, where Silicon Valley and Wall Street bind many of the extremely rich to the businesses that made them so wealthy.

Obviously, the biggest problem for a state like California trying to extract revenue from its uber-wealthy populace would be that they would simply move their residence and use any other possible legal loophole to avoid having to pay.

At the same time, many of these billionaires built their wealth out of business empires that are firmly established in those states, like Mark Zuckerberg's Facebook. The process of moving a business of that size and cultural significance would be immeasurably expensive because those firms rely on an elite talent pool that is very locale-centric for their recruiting, and they have employees that could choose to leave the company rather than relocate.

Would it be possible for a state to enact any kind of complex wealth tax that boxes in billionaires like Zuckerberg from simply changing their residence or using legal tricks to avoid paying? If so, how would the law need to be crafted and how effective would it be?

There has been some debate in the Democratic Party on the subject of a federal wealth tax. I know that there is some debate about the constitutionality of a wealth tax, but for the purpose of this question, I would either assume that the wealth tax is constitutional or that the states were enacting this law to test its constitutionality.

U.S. News & World Report states that 40% of billionaires in the United States live in either New York or California, where Silicon Valley and Wall Street bind many of the extremely rich to the businesses that made them so wealthy.

Obviously, the biggest problem for a state like California trying to extract revenue from its uber-wealthy populace would be that they would simply move their residence and use any other possible legal loophole to avoid having to pay.

At the same time, many of these billionaires built their wealth out of business empires that are firmly established in those states, like Mark Zuckerberg's Facebook. The process of moving a business of that size and cultural significance would be immeasurably expensive because those firms rely on an elite talent pool that is very locale-centric for their recruiting, and they have employees that could choose to leave the company rather than relocate.

There has been some debate in the Democratic Party on the subject of a federal wealth tax. I know that there is some debate about the constitutionality of a wealth tax, but for the purpose of this question, I would either assume that the wealth tax is constitutional or that the states were enacting this law to test its constitutionality.

U.S. News & World Report states that 40% of billionaires in the United States live in either New York or California, where Silicon Valley and Wall Street bind many of the extremely rich to the businesses that made them so wealthy.

Obviously, the biggest problem for a state like California trying to extract revenue from its user-wealthy populace would be that they would simply move their residence and use any other possible legal loophole to avoid having to pay.

At the same time, many of these billionaires built their wealth out of business empires that are firmly established in those states, like Mark Zuckerberg's Facebook. The process of moving a business of that size and cultural significance would be immeasurably expensive because those firms rely on an elite talent pool that is very locale-centric for their recruiting, and they have employees that could choose to leave the company rather than relocate.

Would it be possible for a state to enact any kind of complex wealth tax that boxes in billionaires like Zuckerberg from simply changing their residence or using legal tricks to avoid paying? If so, how would the law need to be crafted and how effective would it be?

There has been some debate in the Democratic Party on the subject of a federal wealth tax. I know that there is some debate about the constitutionality of a wealth tax, but for the purpose of this question, I would either assume that the wealth tax is constitutional or that the states were enacting this law to test its constitutionality.

U.S. News & World Report states that 40% of billionaires in the United States live in either New York or California, where Silicon Valley and Wall Street bind many of the extremely rich to the businesses that made them so wealthy.

Obviously, the biggest problem for a state like California trying to extract revenue from its uber-wealthy populace would be that they would simply move their residence and use any other possible legal loophole to avoid having to pay.

At the same time, many of these billionaires built their wealth out of business empires that are firmly established in those states, like Mark Zuckerberg's Facebook. The process of moving a business of that size and cultural significance would be immeasurably expensive because those firms rely on an elite talent pool that is very locale-centric for their recruiting, and they have employees that could choose to leave the company rather than relocate.

Would it be possible for a state to enact any kind of complex wealth tax that boxes in billionaires like Zuckerberg from simply changing their residence or using legal tricks to avoid paying? If so, how would the law need to be crafted and how effective would it be?