SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC JUSTIFICATION OF WEALTH

The purpose of the paper is to study current issues of wealth, which is due to current sustainable trends in wealth growth and increasing the number of wealthy individuals. The aim is to determine the nature, prerequisites for the emergence and development of wealth, as well as to reflect the historical aspects of the development of wealth and its current state. The topic of the article is caused by the need to reveal the modern stratification of social strata by the level of wealth, the formation of a wealthy class of society and its growth, the processes of creation and increase of wealth. At the same time the purpose of the article is to study the property as an object of taxation. In this connection, the economic essence of the wealth tax and the conditions of its introduction are considered, the specificity of the functioning of the wealth tax in the market economy is determined, the main features of the functioning of the wealth tax are identified. Methodology. Proper analysis of the social structure of society in terms of material wealth allows to assess the efficiency of the economy and the quality of public policy in the system of creation and distribution of public revenues, public goods and wealth. Without the results of these calculations, fatal mistakes appear in the choice of state priorities of socio-economic policy and the best decisions in the financial sphere. The study is based on a comparison of data on wealth tax in different countries. Results. The question and modern peculiarities of wealth are studied. The value of wealth for the society and the state is determined. Wealth tax is an effective fiscal instrument of the state in the distribution of public revenues. Wealth tax exists in many countries in different forms. Practical implications. The possibilities for improving well-being and increasing prosperity are explored. Adequate assessment of the level of well-being and wealth would enable the state to carry out a balanced and effective socio-economic and financial policy to stabilize society and adopt a stable public order. The financial essence of the property tax and the conditions for its introduction are studied. The peculiarities of the functioning of the wealth tax in the social market economy are considered. Value/originality. It has been established that wealth – a comprehensive, multifaceted category, which can be characterized as a specific feature of the socio-economic structure of society, which determines its state, results, dynamics and tendencies of development. Wealth characterizes the ability to achieve a positive result (effect) in the market conditions of management and use of the existing social and economic potential in the community, as evidenced by its level of civilizational development. The peculiarities of the functioning of the wealth tax in various countries of the world are considered. The use of the wealth tax as a fiscal instrument in the state tax system is suggested.