Yesterday morning US President Barack Obama announced his deficit reduction plan, including tax reform that complies with the so-called "Buffett rule" – because it has been sanctioned by billionaire investor Warren Buffett – that people making more than $1 million a year should not pay a smaller share of their income in taxes than middle-class families.

The reform is intended to reduce the deficit by $1.5 trillion, and President Obama proposed specific changes including eliminating tax breaks for oil and gas companies, closing the carried interest loophole for investment fund managers, and eliminating benefits for those who own corporate jets.

Earlier this year a bill was passed by the House of Representatives to raise the US debt ceiling by $2.1 trillion to an eye-watering $14.3 trillion, and the US joins a growing number of debt-ridden countries eyeing wealthy wallets to help plug the holes in their budgets.

Republicans have branded the move “class warfare”.

“I think it is a political move by the President,” said senator Lindsey Graham, a Republican from South Carolina speaking on CNN's State of the Union talkshow. “When you pick one area of the economy and you say, ‘We’re going to tax these people because most people are not these people,’ that’s class warfare.”

But as the eurozone implodes around an epicentre of debt and the outlook for the economic recovery grows increasingly tenuous, Obama’s tactic is being mirrored in other jurisdictions.

Here WealthBriefing profiles recent changes to a number of wealth taxes in Europe.

Italy

The head of Italy’s main business association last week sanctioned a wealth tax on the country weeks after declaring her opposition to it, according to a report in the Financial Times. Emma Marcegaglia, president of Confindustria, said at a conference in Rome that she would be open to “raising taxes on wealth and other things” within the framework of “broader fiscal reform” that would lower taxes on workers and companies.

The statement came as a surprise turnaround from her position last month, when she declared her opposition to a wealth tax on the grounds that it could further depress the heavily indebted country.

Italy’s prime minister Silvio Berlusconi remains set against a wealth tax, said the newspaper, but the idea is reportedly gaining ground in his People of Liberty party and has been backed by prominent bankers, including Corrado Passera, head of Intesa Sanpaolo, and Alessandro Profumo, former head of UniCredit. The levy would likely be a tax on incomes over €300,000 ($413,000).

Spain

Spain’s government last week confirmed it aims to raise some €2.2 billion by the end of 2012 from a temporary wealth tax to help it replenish its government coffers. Finance minister Elena Salgado announced that the levy would apply to wealth of over €700,000 and will likely affect 160,000 tax payers.

France

French president Nicolas Sarkozy last month introduced a 3 per cent surcharge on those earning more than €500,000 and increased the levy on capital gains.

Greece

Although not officially a wealth tax, this month the troubled Greek government announced it plans to enact a property tax to be levied through electricity bills. The new duty will include any home-owners, even those with holiday homes, and tax experts expect it will cost an average €1,000 per household - equating to around €16 per square meter. Naturally those with larger properties will get taxed more, hence its comparison to a wealth tax. 

UK

Outside the eurozone, there is controversy in the UK over whether the ruling Conservative/Liberal Democrat government will scrap the top 50 per cent income tax band on people earning £150,000 ($235,000) or above. It is reported that if the government does axe this band - introduced by the previous Labour-led administration - the left-leaning Lib Dems will demand some kind of "mansion tax" on wealthy properties as a compromise.