“Abolish all existing taxes and replace them with a single wealth-based tax.” Tax expert and researcher Reinier Kooiman demonstrates how the extreme complexity and undemocratic nature of our current tax system has led to the very skewed distribution of wealth. He discusses the systemic change that is necessary and possible for a fairer society.
Taxes are necessary to keep the state running, but the current tax system is too complex and unfair. Only a select group of tax experts are still able to understand the legislation in detail; neither citizens nor specialized Members of Parliament are. It's no surprise that the Netherlands has an unprecedented 63 tax law professors. This system, not capitalism, is precisely what underlies the increasingly unequal distribution between rich and poor.
Mr. dr. Reinier Kooiman is a tax lawyer. He works at the international law firm Stibbe and is a lecturer and researcher at the University of Amsterdam. In 2016, he earned his Ph.D. on the taxable event in inheritance tax. In his first public book De sterkste schouders (The broadest shoulders, atlas contact, April 2025), he discusses the (rotten) foundation of our taxes. For this, he spent ten years studying the fiscal revolution that took place in the 13th-century Italian city-states such as Bologna, Siena, and Perugia. The clear principles of fair taxation that emerged then, are more relevant than ever. According to Kooiman, a fairer society is possible and begins with a radically new perspective on taxation.
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