Currently, the annual spring meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank are being held in Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States. During the meeting on the 17th, the Brazilian finance ministers and the French economy and finance ministers reiterated their calls for the international community to do more to allow the world's richest companies and individuals to pay a "fair" share of tax revenues.
French Minister of Economy and Finance Le Maire: Now is the final step, a fair tax on the richest individuals. I am not underestimating the obstacles on the road to achieving fair taxation, but this step is necessary if we want to make the entire international tax system whole, so as to build a fair and effective tax system in the 21st century.
This year's G20 Leaders' Summit will be held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in the second half of the year. As the rotating presidency, Brazil has been pushing the G20 to adopt a common position to prevent tax evasion by the world's richest people and impose a minimum wealth tax of 2% on them.
Fernando Ada, Minister of Finance, Brazil: Brazil proposes to consider this at the international level. In our view, this kind of fair taxation of the super-rich is difficult to achieve at the national level alone. On the other hand, in terms of costs, these taxes can be used to fight poverty and climate change, and now we don't have the funds to deal with these challenges.
Reuters reported that previous reports showed that if a minimum wealth tax of 2% was levied on about 2,700 of the world's top billionaires, it was estimated that it could increase tax revenue by $250 billion a year, or about 1.8 trillion yuan. Billionaires with assets of more than $1 billion often use means such as opening "shell companies" to transfer assets and hide their wealth, and they actually pay the lowest percentage of personal income tax than all other income groups.
According to the report, the personal income tax rate paid by these wealthy people is actually about 0.5% in the United States and almost zero in France, a situation that could jeopardize the stability of the tax system. The 2% minimum wealth tax is a drop in the bucket compared to the billionaires' combined assets of nearly $13 trillion. The increased tax revenues could be used to address challenges such as an aging population, climate change, and more. However, imposing a global wealth tax would require countries to work together to clear the assets of the wealthy, a requirement that would take years to complete, if other obstacles are not taken into account.
Source: CCTV Finance
Editor-in-charge: Lu Shicheng
Responsible proofreader Julie
Editor-in-chief: Yan Yun
Final Review: Editorial Board Member Li Rong