Brazil's finance minister on Thursday called on G20 countries to “find effective solutions so that the super-rich pay their fair share of taxes,” and said he hoped a common group position would be adopted by July.
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“Despite recent progress, it is undeniable that billionaires continue to circumvent our tax systems using a range of strategies,” said Fernando Haddad at the opening of the second and final day of the G20 meeting of major financiers in São Paulo Paulo.
“I sincerely wonder how we have allowed this situation to continue. If we act together, we can ensure that these few people make their contribution to our societies and the sustainable development of the planet,” he emphasized.
Since December, Brazil has held the rotating presidency of the G20, a group of countries that accounts for 80% of global GDP.
Minimum taxation of the “super-rich” at the international level is one of Brasilia’s priorities. Mr Haddad hopes to agree on a joint statement by the next G20 ministerial meeting in July.
“Fair and progressive international taxation” is “the key to solving many of the challenges we face,” he said.
At a session specifically dedicated to this topic on Thursday morning, Brazil invited French economist Gabriel Zucman, who specializes in inequalities and tax havens, to present his recommendations for a minimum tax on the wealth of billionaires.
On Wednesday, French Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire said on the sidelines of the G20 meeting that Paris wanted to “accelerate” international negotiations on the issue.
But the idea of taxing the richest more heavily has been stymied for years by a lack of international ambition and difficulties in agreeing on very different tax systems.
The richest 1% of G20 countries have seen tax rates on their income fall by almost a third in recent decades, the non-governmental organization Oxfam estimated in a study published on Tuesday.