By Eleanor EWN • Updated: 19 Aug 2024 • 16:28 • 2 minutes read
The super-rich may face future tax rises. Credit: Felix Fuchs. Unsplash.
The campaign group Tax Justice Network has claimed that governments that copy Spain’s wealth tax on the super-rich could raise more than $2 trillion (£1.5 trillion) to finance the climate transition.
An increasing number of countries are considering raising taxes on the super rich, according to a report published by the Tax Justice Network. The group claims that copying a “featherlight” tax on the 0.5% richest households in Spain could help raise trillions of extra dollars around the world each year.
The Spanish government introduced a “solidarity” wealth tax at the end of 2022, to be collected in the 2023 and 2024 tax years on the net wealth of individuals exceeding €3m (£2.6m). This tax is only one part of the proposed tax changes for 2024 that taxpayers in Spain should be aware of.
The Tax Justice Network found that introducing a similar tax on the top 0.5% wealthiest households in the world at a rate of between 1.7% and 3.5% would raise up to $2.1tn. The same study predicted that up to $31bn a year could be raised from the UK alone.
The study comes in conjunction with plans for a global minimum tax on the world’s 3,000 billion. The Global Minimum Tax proposal, advocated by Brazilian president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, has so far gained support from France, Germany, Spain, and South Africa. However, reaching a global agreement will probably take years and will likely face stiff opposition in various countries.
Alison Schultz, a research fellow at the Tax Justice Network, said: “A minority of rich countries still seem to be holding back from support for a robust framework convention on tax – despite this being the best opportunity that we’ve ever had, and one that their own people demand they act on with urgency.
“This needs to change now – the climate can’t wait, and nor can the people of the world.”
Despite warnings that tax reform will lead the ultra-wealthy to move them – and their wealth – elsewhere, the Tax Justice Network notes that reforms implemented in some nations haven’t resulted in an exodus of the super rich.
For example, it’s estimated that as few as 0.01% of the wealthiest households moved away following tax reforms in Sweden, Norway, and Denmark. Similarly, a study by the University of Warwick estimated that changes to the “non dom” rules only led to a migration rate of 0.02%.
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This is nothing but the start of a global carbon tax under guise of climate transition tax, as if anything man does can change climate! The earth has gone through climate change cycles for EONS since it’s existence! If anyone really wanted to help the climate and lower carbon dioxide levels they would simply plant more trees! Trees and plants utilize carbon dioxide and can’t live without it! Ask those who operate greenhouses. For those clapping their hands in glee saying “YES YES let’s tax the wealthiest among us”, I guarantee you the Bill Gates’s and George Soros’s of this world won’t be forced to pay anything. We can be guaranteed a more “moderate” tax will be had on even the poorest among the people of the world. This is nothing more than the act of getting the camel’s nose under the tent so it can begin!
I agree. And the likes of Google get away without paying anything – ridiculous
Hi Carly! Thanks for the thought-provoking comment! What do you think governments around the world could do to plant more trees? Or, perhaps even more importantly, stop deforestation? Would you support a global wealth tax on billionaires if you thought it was enforceable?
CCW60, so much truth in what you say!🤔
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