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What you are talking about already exists....sort of. It's called the federal estate tax.
Agreed it only goes into effect upon an individuals death but rich people die every day. The current law allows 1.2 million to pass tax free to your heirs and then the estate tax kicks in. It starts at 35% and quickly rises to 50%. Basically, when you die the value of your estate (anything you own of value) above 5 million is taxed at the rate of 50%. This money must be paid to the government, in cash, within 9 months of your date of death. The estate tax used to be 100%, with no exemption. This was the governments way to redistribute the wealth. Like others have suggested, people would just send the money offshore.
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