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Add to Preferred SourcesA group of 83 millionaires from seven countries released an open letter to governments, calling for a permanent tax increase on the very wealthiest to help pay for the global recovery from the COVID-19 crisis.
The letter praises the essential workers who have been on the frontline of the crisis and highlights the role that the richest people in the society can play in helping to rebalance the world economy. The group also urges governments to raise taxes on millionaires and billionaires “immediately, substantially and permanently.”
The millionaires released their call ahead of this weekend’s G20 Finance Ministers and Central Governors meeting, and the Special European Council meeting in Brussels, both of which are expected to discuss the global effort to rebuild economies in a post-COVID world. They hope politicians will address global inequality and acknowledge that tax increases on the wealthy and greater international tax transparency are essential for a viable long-term solution.
Prominent signatories include the film producer and heiress Abigail Disney, co-founder of Ben and Jerry’s Jerry Greenfield, former managing director at Blackrock Morris Pearl, British screenwriter and director Richard Curtis, Danish-Iranian entrepreneur Djaffar Shalchi, award-winning German start-up investor and philanthropist Dr. Mariana Bozesan, and founder of the Warehouse Group, New Zealander Sir Stephen Tindall.
Djaffar Shalchi, entrepreneur, philanthropist and founder of Human Act said: “Together, we question the concentration of wealth, and demand hands-on solutions to create more economically viable societies. Personally, I believe we need a global wealth tax of one percent on the world’s richest people. People like me can afford it, it will do us no harm, and it will have a huge impact.”
The letter was circulated by the Patriotic Millionaires, Oxfam, Human Act, Tax Justice UK, Club of Rome, Resource Justice, and Bridging Ventures, and warns that the economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic could push half a billion more people into poverty.
Original source: Oxfam
Published on 13 July 2020