If countries around the world impose a wealth tax of at least 2% on billionaires, additional fiscal income of 250 billion dollars will be generated annually, according to an analysis. Amid growing debt and growing inequality in each country, there are growing calls around the world for more taxes on the wealthy.
According to Reuters and Bloomberg on the 23rd (local time), the European Tax Observatory, headquartered at the Paris School of Economics (PSE), France, insisted on imposing a minimum tax on billionaires, saying that their personal taxes are much less than other taxpayers because they can accumulate wealth in ghost companies.
In addition, the institution estimated that if it pays a wealth tax of at least 2%, it will be able to secure $250 billion in additional tax revenue, which is 2% of the assets of 2,700 billionaires around the world.
As such, there are growing calls in some countries for wealthy people to pay more taxes due to wealth inequality amid rising public financial demand to cope with population aging, climate change and debt expansion during Covid.
In the case of the U.S., President Joe Biden tried to introduce a billionaire posture that would apply at least 25% tax rates to the top 0.01% of asset holders, but the related legislation has been virtually neglected as the U.S. Congress is engrossed in the threat of shutdowns and handling the federal budget.
In addition, 140 countries around the world have already agreed in 2021 to apply a 15% minimum corporate tax rate starting next year.
Gabriel Zucman, director of the European Tax Observatory, said, “I learned that what many thought was impossible could actually be done,” adding, “Logically, the next step is to apply this logic not only to multinational companies but also to billionaires.”
