In Germany, taxation of wealth was abolished in 1996. This was the result of a Federal Constitutional Court’s ruling, which declared the design of the wealth tax incompatible with the constitution’s’ principle of equality.Since its abolishment, a re-introduction of the wealth tax is discussed. One of the major reasons for re-introducing the wealth tax are expected revenues from taxing wealth.The goals of this study are twofold. First, the development of taxing wealth in Europe will be analysed to determine a general trend for wealth taxes. Then, existing gaps in German taxes will be assessed and quantified to answer the question, whether revenues resulting from closing tax gaps could compensate the revenues of a wealth tax.