More than 100 millionaires are demanding wealth taxes for the richest

A group of more than 100 millionaires from nine countries, together with international organizations, is calling for a wealth tax for the richest. “Tax us, the rich, now,” the groups Patriotic Millionaires, Millionaires for Humanity and Tax Me Now urged governments to do, according to Oxfam.

This would help reduce extreme inequality and fund basic social services like public health and education, Oxfam said on Wednesday. Oxfam referred to an analysis according to which a tax volume of at least 2.5 trillion dollars (2.2 trillion euros) per year is possible.

The Patriotic Millionaires are publishing their letter on the occasion of the World Economic Forum’s “Davos Agenda” series of events. The signatories include American 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.

A wealth tax that starts at just 2 percent a year for millionaires and rises to 5 percent a year for billionaires could bring in $2.52 trillion a year worldwide, it said. This would enable significant progress in poverty reduction, equitable distribution of Covid-19 vaccines and general health care. The letter said the world had experienced great suffering over the past two years, while the richest have gotten richer and very few of them have paid taxes adequately.

Oxfam: Corona exacerbates social inequality

Oxfam also said a few days ago that the corona pandemic had exacerbated social inequalities. While the wealth of the top 10 billionaires has doubled, more than 160 million people live in poverty, according to a report released by Oxfam just ahead of the start of the World Economic Forum’s digital conference. In Germany, too, the concentration of wealth has continued to increase.

Oxfam called on governments around the world to tax corporations and the super-rich more heavily to fund basic social services, to ensure global immunization justice and to align the economy with the common good.