This week, finance ministers and central-bank governors from G20 countries will meet in Washington DC at the spring meetings of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). They will have a chance to commit to raising the taxes of wealthy people.
At the recent São Paulo, Brazil meeting in February this year, economists and G20 finance leaders floated the idea of instituting a global minimum tax on the world’s billionaires, who are now more abundant in number (2,781) and in combined wealth ($14.2tn) than ever before. This tracks with countless recommendations and requests from economists and communities all over the world, including a proposal for a 2% tax on billionaires from the EU Tax Observatory in its groundbreaking report last year.
Finance ministers from both Brazil and France came out publicly in support of this idea, and a handful of other countries have quietly assured activists they are supportive of the policy framework.
Abigail Disney can voluntarily pay more tax if she so wishes.
Abigail Disney is, apparently, worth $120 million.
Taxes for thou richer than me, apparently.
I quite like the idea of a 100% wealth tax on people worth exactly (not a penny more and not a penny less) how much Abigail.is worth.
– Finance ministers from both Brazil and France came out publicly in support of this idea . . .
A good opportunity for the finance minister of Argentina to announce no special taxes on billionaires.
I would have said a good opportunity for the UK, but . . . HA HA HA.
Well, as the value of money drops it’s not surprising that the number of billionaires rises.
Woman advocates that those richer than her should pay more tax. How is this news?
And those who like spending other people’s money (but are nowhere near as rich) might agree with her. And this is news too?
@PJF ” Finance ministers from both Brazil and France came out publicly in support of this idea . . .” I thought the Frenchies already tried this -, the so-called supertax introduced by socialist president Francois Holland in 2012. The tax imposed a 75 per cent levy on earnings above €1m, and led to a number of French celebrities leaving the country. France’s richest man, Bernard Arnault, the chief executive of luxury retailer LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton (EPA: MC), applied for Belgian citizenship, and actor Gérard Depardieu moved to Belgium before obtaining Russian citizenship. French footballers threatened strike action, while league bosses feared the tax prevented them from attracting world-class players. The tax was repealed two years after adoption when Mr Macron, then economic minister, warned that it made France “Cuba without the sun”.
Not that I’m in favor but Switzerland has a wealth tax and so far the country shows no signs of falling apart.