Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero has promised to do away with the country's wealth tax if he is returned to power in next year's general election. Spain collects around 1.4 billion euros annually from the tax on assets such as property, cars and the money in people's bank accounts.
Zapatero said the tax's original targets - the truly wealthy - have developed ways to avoid it and it is now paid mainly by the middle classes. He also noted that the wealth tax had already been eliminated by most other European countries.
Britain has no wealth tax. Austria ended it in 1994, Denmark in 1995, Germany and Ireland 10 years ago, Italy in 1998, the Netherlands and Luxembourg in 2001.
In March, when Sweden eliminated the wealth tax that had been in place there since 1947, it said the move was intended to boost investment and employment and end the situation where the richest Swedes moved their money out of the country.
France is the last big EU economy to retain a wealth tax. The Paris government said so far this year it has brought in 4.3 billion euros - 21% more than last year.
President Nicolas Sarkozy, who is the former finance minister, has said repeatedly that he does not want to get rid of it.
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