Global Rice News

The international community is being urged to take action and ensure that the world’s wealthiest companies and individuals pay their fair share of taxes. Brazil and France’s finance ministers emphasized the importance of addressing tax-dodging by billionaires and called for a shared stance among the G20 nations. Brazil, as the current chair of the G20, aims to tackle this issue by the summer. The finance ministers stressed that fair international taxation is not only a concern for progressive economists but a crucial aspect of effective macroeconomic management. Both developed and developing countries must cooperate internationally to combat tax avoidance and establish fair, transparent, efficient, and progressive tax systems.

During an event at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in Washington, Fernando Haddad, the Brazilian finance minister, emphasized the need to enhance revenue mobilization through fair tax systems. He highlighted that without international cooperation, the capacity of both wealthy and developing nations to address this issue is limited. French finance minister Bruno Le Maire, who was also present at the IMF event, echoed these sentiments and reiterated the call for a global minimum tax and a crackdown on tax avoidance. France has already implemented a minimum tax on tech giants and supports a 15 percent global minimum tax rate.

The European Union has already introduced a 15 percent minimum tax for multinational companies operating within its trading bloc. The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) estimates that a global minimum tax could generate an additional $200 billion in annual revenues. Le Maire emphasized the importance of wealthy individuals also paying their fair share of taxation and proposed measures to increase transparency and information-sharing between countries. He argued that everyone should contribute their fair share, including the world’s super-rich.

Gabriel Zucman, a French economist, highlighted the overwhelming popular demand for a wealth tax on billionaires. Zucman proposed that a two percent wealth tax could generate approximately $250 billion in additional tax revenue globally, considering the presence of around 3,000 billionaires worldwide. He stated that implementing such a tax is feasible and can be done expediently.

Furthermore, a report published by the non-governmental organization Global Citizen emphasizes the potential of a wealth tax to provide significant revenue for states to finance the necessary transitions for addressing climate change. The report reveals that the wealth of the richest individuals has collectively increased by $2.7 billion per day since 2020, and they emit an average of a million times more carbon dioxide than an average individual.

It is essential for the international community to unite and ensure that the economic burden is shared more equitably. By implementing fair tax systems and addressing tax avoidance, governments can secure additional revenues that can be used for vital initiatives such as climate transition. Taking action on this issue is not only essential for economic justice but also for addressing urgent global challenges.

Source: [Islamabad Post](https://islamabadpost.com.pk)