Nearly 20 former heads of state and government from G20 and high-income countries have called on current G20 leaders to support a new global agreement to tax the ultra-rich in an open letter published on Thursday 11 July.
The former leaders believe that Brazil’s proposal to the G20 (see EUROPE 13440/19) highlights “the opportunity to write a new history about taxation for the first time in a generation”, at a time when “billionaires, globally, are paying a tax rate equivalent to less than 0.5% of their wealth”.
The signatories include former Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Löfven, former French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin and former Spanish Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero. In their view, ensuring that the ultra-rich pay their fair share would “reduce inequality and raise trillions of dollars necessary for investments in industrial policy and a just transition”.
This open letter is in line with the European Citizens’ Initiative in favour of a European wealth tax (see EUROPE 13391/15), which has so far received more than 238,000 supporters.
Read the letter: https://aeur.eu/f/d0m (Original version in French by Anne Damiani)