“With full respect for fiscal sovereignty, we will seek to cooperate to ensure that ultra-high net worth individuals pay taxes effectively,” the statement said.
G20 countries have pledged to cooperate to prevent the super-rich from evading tax obligations in a document approved by the forum’s finance ministers on Friday.
“With full respect for fiscal sovereignty, we will seek to cooperate to ensure that ultra-high net worth individuals pay taxes effectively,” said the statement approved by ministers from the world’s 20 largest economies and observers, including Portugal.
The so-called “G20 Ministerial Declaration on International Tax Cooperation” highlights the need to combat tax evasion by the richest and mentions studies commissioned by the forum on the adoption of a universal tax on the wealth of billionaires.
According to these studies, if the world’s 3,000 billionaires paid the equivalent of 2% of their wealth in taxes, it would be possible to collect between $200 and $250 billion a year.
Brazilian Finance Minister Fernando Haddad said at a news conference at the end of the meeting that Brazil has already started talks with a UN working group on fair taxation and with OECD members on possible ways to implement the proposed tax.
According to the ministerial statement, “it is important that all taxpayers, including ultra-high net worth individuals, contribute their fair share of taxes.”
For the G20, aggressive tax evasion or tax fraud by very high net worth individuals could compromise the fairness of tax systems, threatening the desire for progressive taxation.
In this regard, the G20 described the implementation of the automatic exchange of information (AEOI) on financial accounts by several countries as “historic”, since it makes financial secrecy, evasion and avoidance of extraterritorial taxes more difficult.
According to the statement, progressive taxation is one of the main tools to reduce inequalities, strengthen fiscal sustainability, facilitate fiscal consolidation, promote strong, sustainable, balanced and inclusive growth and enable the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Source: Observadora
