Spain and Brazil are calling for a worldwide push to make the super-rich pay more taxes in hopes of tackling the widening gap between the wealthiest and everyone else. Their joint proposal took center stage at the United Nation (UN)’s 4th International Conference on Financing for Development in Sevilla, Spain, this week. The two countries say it’s time to fix the system so that billionaires and millionaires no longer contribute less than regular taxpayers, often thanks to loopholes and special breaks.
“We need more public revenues to meet our needs. Inequality is everywhere, and right now, the very richest often pay less than middle- and even lower-income people,” said Spain’s Secretary of State for Finance, Jesús Gascón, as temperatures soared outside the conference venue.
The numbers are striking: just one percent of the world’s population now owns more than 95 percent of global wealth.
The plan doesn’t just call for higher taxes—it pushes for tougher rules, better sharing of financial information between countries, and stronger data analysis to help identify hidden fortunes and figure out who’s really paying what. By closing loopholes and tracking down evasive tactics, they hope to make the tax system more transparent and fair.
Spain and Brazil are also exploring technical training, peer reviews, and even the possibility of a global registry to track wealth. They acknowledge these steps won’t be simple or quick, but say real change demands new tools and real political will.
“We cannot tolerate this level of inequality, which just keeps growing,” said Brazil’s Minister-Counsellor to the UN, José Gilberto Scandiucci. He stressed that their call isn’t extreme—just necessary for a world where prosperity is shared, not hoarded by a lucky few. The initiative is part of the broader Seville Platform for Action, which aims to boost efforts toward meeting the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030.
