Millionaires demand higher tax on wealthy individuals

A group of more than 100 millionaires from nine countries along with international organisations and Oxfam on Wednesday called for wealth tax on the world rich.

The groups Patriotic Millionaires, Millionaires for Humanity and Tax Me Now called on governments to “tax us, the rich, and tax us now”.

Oxfam said revenue from the tax would help reduce extreme inequality and fund basic social services such as public health care, education and emergency aid.

The Patriotic Millionaires published their letter to coincide with the World Economic Forum’s “Davos Agenda” series of events.

The signatories reportedly include U.S. film producer and heiress Abigail Disney, Danish-Iranian entrepreneur Djaffar Shalchi, American entrepreneur and venture capitalist Nick Hanauer, and Austrian student and BASF heiress Marlene Engelhorn.

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A wealth tax that starts at only 2 per cent per year for millionaires and increases to 5 per cent per year for billionaires could raise 2.52 trillion U.S. dollars per year worldwide, according to data cited by Oxfam.

In the letter they said “as millionaires, we know that the current tax system is not fair.

“Most of us can say that, while the world has gone through an immense amount of suffering in the last two years.

“We have actually seen our wealth rise during the pandemic yet few, if any of us can honestly say that we pay our fair share in taxes.” (dpa/NAN)