Governments should open a new front in the international clampdown on tax evasion with a global minimum tax on billionaires, which could raise $250 billion annually, the EU Tax Observatory said on Monday.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ca/post/7812500

PARIS, Oct 23 (Reuters) - Governments should open a new front in the international clampdown on tax evasion with a global minimum tax on billionaires, which could raise $250 billion annually, the EU Tax Observatory said on Monday.

If levied, the sum would be equivalent to only 2% of the nearly $13 trillion in wealth owned by the 2,700 billionaires globally, the research group hosted at the Paris School of Economics said.

  • BraveSirZaphod@kbin.social
    6·
    8 months ago

    There is a very real logistical problem with directly taxing net worth. It’s extremely difficult to actually assess, especially when you’re targeting people with extremely expensive lawyers. They also very directly encourage wealth flight, which has happened in other countries that have tried them. They can also be avoided by accounting trickery, shell companies, and all kinds of bullshit. It’s not me that owns $1 billion in Amazon stock, it’s a shell company in the Cayman Islands that happened to buy a yacht. Sure, you can unwind all that, but enforcement takes a lot of time and resources.

    There are other much more efficient tax schemes out there focusing on consumption that can’t be easily escaped.

    • lolcatnipEnglish
      1·
      8 months ago

      Bribes should be taxed at least 15%!

      (The actual point being that billionaires don’t necessarily spend their money on things normal people would consider consumption.)