Tax the ultra-rich to finance the fight against inequality and climate change. Until a few years ago, most of the world’s leaders dismissed such an idea out of hand. Today, some people are taking it seriously. Starting with Brazil, which chairs the G20 in 2024, and has made it one of its priorities. “A minimum tax of 2% on the fortune of the 3,000 people whose assets exceed one billion dollars in the world would bring in between 200 billion and 250 billion dollars [186,7 à 233,5 milliards d’euros] per year “, underlines Gabriel Zucman, director of the European Tax Observatory. At the end of February, Brazil commissioned a report from the economist, also a professor at the Californian University of Berkeley, on the implementation of such a measure.
Published Tuesday June 25, ahead of the meetings of G20 finance ministers on July 25 and 26 in Rio de Janeiro, it makes a clear observation: the income tax paid by these billionaires represents only 0.3 % of their assets. This is because most of their income does not come from salaries, but from the companies they own, in particular through the payment of dividends. However, these are little, if any, imposed, thanks to the various optimization techniques that they deploy. “All taxes included, very wealthy individuals pay less taxes in proportion to their income than other social groups”underlines the report.
In addition, the wealth of these 3,000 billionaires, estimated at $14.4 trillion by the magazine Forbes, grew by around 7.1% per year – excluding inflation – between 1987 and 2024, much faster than average wealth (3% per year). A phenomenon which has contributed to widening inequalities and growing distrust of political leaders, while undermining the financing of public services. “Beyond revenue gains for governments, a minimum tax of 2% on the richest would strengthen confidence and social cohesion”Mr. Zucman emphasizes.
The risk is greatly overestimated
But here it is: how to identify and measure the wealth of billionaires? Half resides in shares of companies listed on the markets, which are easy to value. The matter is less simple when it comes to shares of companies not listed on the stock exchange. “To assess their value, the tax authorities could base themselves on the valuation of similar listed companies in the same sector”, suggests the report, noting that heritage held in the form of yachts or works of art represents, on the other hand, a minimal share. And recalling that great progress has already been made in the fight against tax evasion since the automatic exchange of banking information was established in around a hundred countries in 2017.
You have 52.72% of this article left to read. The rest is reserved for subscribers.