G20 countries agree to work on a “tax for billionaires”
Kyiv • UNN
The G20 countries agreed on the need to tax the super-rich. The proposal calls for a 2% tax on wealth over $1 billion, but faced a negative reaction from some countries.
The G20 countries have agreed on the need to tax the super-rich. But the implementation of this idea is difficult. This is reported by Reuters, according to UNN.
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The final declaration of the G20 meeting of July 25 states that countries “with full respect for tax sovereignty will seek to cooperate to ensure effective taxation of the ultra-wealthy.
The countries agreed to start “a dialogue on fair and progressive taxation, including of the super-rich”.
Brazilian Finance Minister Fernando Haddad hailed the decision as a “historic” agreement. Brazil and three other countries have been putting forward the idea of a global tax on the world's richest people, inspired by the OECD's corporate tax reform.
According to the proposal, a 2% tax would be levied on wealth exceeding $1 billion. In total, there are about 3,000 billionaires in the world who could be subject to such taxation. It is estimated that this could unlock approximately $250 billion a year.
“What has begun today is a broader process that will require the participation of academia, scientists and international organizations with experience and time, such as the OECD and the UN,” Fernando Haddad told reporters.
But this proposal is very controversial, and it has faced a negative reaction, in particular from German Finance Minister Christian Lindner and US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen.
European Commissioner for Economic Affairs Paolo Gentiloni emphasized on the sidelines of the G20 meeting that the first step would be to work on information exchange between different countries: “This is something that will be discussed in the coming months and years.
