Super-rich call for tougher tax regime and fairer tax system

A group of 102 global millionaires and billionaires have called on governments to hit them with heftier taxes to help cover the costs of the pandemic, arguing that the current tax system is rigged in their favour and needs to be rewritten to make taxation fairer. In an open letter, they say: “We know that the current tax system is not fair,” adding: “Most of us can say that, while the world has gone through an immense amount of suffering in the last two years, we have actually seen our wealth rise during the pandemic – yet few if any of us can honestly say that we pay our fair share in taxes.” They have called for the introduction of “permanent wealth taxes on the richest to help reduce extreme inequality and raise revenue for sustained, long-term increases in public services.” The group say an annual wealth tax on those with fortunes of more than $5m could raise more than $2.52trn. The proposed tax would see those with more than $5m pay 2%, rising to 3% for those with more than $50m, with a 5% rate for billionaires. Analysis shows that taxing the UK’s wealthiest 119,000 people at these rates would raise an estimated £43.7bn a year. Calling for a heavier taxation hit, the super-rich signatories urged: “The world – every country in it – must demand the rich pay their fair share. Tax us, the rich, and tax us now.”

 

 

The Guardian

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