Most Rev Justin Welby said the idea that the whole of society benefits if high earners see their income increase is not "an effective form of redistribution".
He acknowledged many rich people earn their money legitimately, but he added that everything we have ultimately comes from God and is God's.
He told BBC Radio 4's World At One: "I think a system that we ensure spreads the goods of wealth more evenly across society is a good system.
"Something that leaves people behind is a very serious problem."
Asked whether he supported bigger taxes on wealthy people, he responded: "Inevitably it will mean some people will have to pay more.
"I think one of the things, I don't know what the Government thinks about this... but one of the things it seems to me is that the evidence of trickle down as an effective form of redistribution is that it fails, it doesn't work.
"That comes down to an issue of our understanding of human beings and I think there is a chapter on this - that they tend to hold on to what they've got."
Oxfam reported last year that Britain was one of the most unequal countries in the developed world, with the richest 1 per cent of the population earning twenty times more than the poorest fifth.
At the time, Prime Minister Theresa May pledged the closed the inequality gap.
Premier has contacted HM Treasury for comment.
