Global Tax on the Rich: When Will It Work?

New data arrives to support one Tax on the wealth of the richIntroduction A.property tax This would allow each country to raise the equivalent of 7% of its spending budget on average on the richest 0.5% of households. Overall, in the world, at a rate of between 1.7% and 3.5%, it would thus be possible Raised over $2 trillion.

And whoever does not believe him can refer to him Original study On the site of the person providing it, and Tax Justice Networkan association fighting for a tax on the wealthy. For those who don’t like numbers or don’t have time to do the math, just imagine those dollars are worth double the amount required each year to finance Developing countries for climate. Like negotiations Policeman 29The UN Climate Conference, where the topic will be at the heart of the discussion, and activists do not fail to emphasize it, but the issue is not only important to those sitting at that table. Today, a quarter of the Earth’s wealth is in the hands of 0.5% of its population. Then there are the 50% of people who divide 3% and the rest float, struggling to survive. It is an imbalance that affects everyone and therefore, according to the Tax Justice Network, it makes Insecure economies It is directly linked to one low economic productivity

solution Made in Spain

Anyone who wants to follow this suggestion will not have to invent anything from scratch. It will be enough to shamelessly copy an example. Property tax “feather”. Spanish. In fact, under the Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, this country already presented this measure at the end of 2022 as temporary and “in solidarity”, limiting it to citizens who have Net worth exceeds 3 million euros (about 0.5% of households).

The Tax Justice Network study uses these numbers specifically, excluding some exemptions (including those for publicly traded corporate stocks, intellectual and industrial property, and some high-value assets like boats and airplanes) and reiterates the utter futility of tax justice policy. Two-level wealth treatment Gather and acquire wealth.Wealth accumulated through dividends, capital gains, and rents from owning assets is typically taxed at much lower rates than wealth acquired through wages earned through work – Explains – At the same time, accumulated wealth usually grows faster than earned wealth.“. This would lead to the fact that Only half of the wealth created in the world each year goes to the people who make a living from it.The rest is collected in the form of rents, interest, dividends, profits and capital gains.

Faced with numbers and evidence of persistent economic injustice, more and more countries are considering raising taxes on the super-rich. Under the Brazilian presidency of leftist leader Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva Group of Twenty, The forum, which brings together 20 of the world’s most important economies, was already considering one application. Global minimum tax on 3,000 billionaires From the world. France, Germany, Spain and South Africa have long supported this proposal. Now there are also numbers to support its potential effectiveness.

There are those who say no

The proposal highlighted by the Tax Justice Network appears to be that for many. A chance to correct the world“The best of times is to intervene in glaring inequalities that are now hard to hide. Yet there is a minority of rich countries that still seem to be hesitant To the idea of ​​a solid framework agreement on taxes. Often the “no” is not clear, but their silent hesitation may lead to the idea being entrenched for years, even if it is already clear and specific.

One of the most common concerns among opponents of a tax on the wealthy is that it will be taxed. Mass transportation for that most valuable segment of shareholders for its national budget. Tax Justice Network activists have also found numbers that refute this hypothesis. Norway, Sweden, Denmark Where, after the wealth tax reforms, only 0.01% of the richest households moved. But also those in Great Britain, where changes made in 2017 to the rules on wealthy non-residents are estimated to have led to an migration rate of just 0.02%.