[jessaustin]

Sales taxes, VAT, etc. are used basically everywhere, so "non starter" is a strange label to use. Regressivity is a problem, but that may be ameliorated with measures like EITC or guaranteed income.

It's not clear that inheritance taxes are easier to circumvent than capital gains taxes, which certainly are easy to circumvent. Capital moves at the speed of light, to whichever locale offers the best return. The more you tighten your grip, Tarkin, the more numbered accounts will slip through your fingers. Investment is not like cigarettes; we don't actually want to tax it out of existence.

OTOH, old rich dudes die eventually no matter what. The death of a wealthy person would be a difficult event to conceal, even if potential heirs wanted to do so. At that point, Caesar can take his portion. Trusts etc. are fictional entities, created by the state. If there is some problem with these entities that prevents the levy of tax, the state may modify them to solve that problem.