Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia – Tax crazy rich global is now highlighted. Data from the European Union (EU) Tax Observatory states that billionaires’ taxes can generate US$250 billion or around IDR 3,988 trillion per year.
However, this amount can only be obtained if the government implements tough international measures against tax evasion. Especially by implementing a global minimum tax on billionaires.
“This figure is also small for the rich, because the amount is equivalent to only 2% of the nearly US$13 trillion in wealth owned by 2,700 billionaires worldwide,” according to a research group held at the Paris School of Economics, quoted by Reuters, Monday (23/10/2023).
The data also shows that currently the effective personal tax of billionaires is often much smaller than the income tax paid by “simpler taxpayers”.
In the 2024 Global Tax Evasion Report, this phenomenon occurs because rich people park their wealth in shell companies. This is of course to protect their money from income tax.
“In our view, this is difficult to justify because it risks undermining the sustainability of the tax system and the social acceptance of taxation,” said the observatory’s director, Gabriel Zucman.
According to Observatory estimates, personal taxes on billionaires in the United States (US) are close to 0.5%. That figure is lower than France, which has high taxes.
Previously, increasing wealth inequality in several countries sparked calls for the richest citizens to bear more of the tax burden. The call comes as public finances struggle to cope with an aging population, huge funding needs for the climate transition, and Covid-related debt.
In the US, US President Joe Biden’s budget for 2024 includes a minimum tax plan of 25% for the richest 0.01%. But the proposal was not implemented because lawmakers in Washington were preoccupied with the threat of a government shutdown and an approaching funding deadline.
While a coordinated international push to tax billionaires could take years, the Observatory says it can be done by doing a number of things. These include ending bank secrecy and reducing opportunities for multinational companies to shift profits to low-tax countries.
According to the agency’s estimates, the launch of automatic account information sharing in 2018 has reduced the amount of wealth that billionaires keep in tax havens (tax havens). In fact, the figure is three times as much.
A 2021 agreement between 140 countries will limit the scope for multinational companies to reduce taxes by booking profits in low-tax countries. This is by setting the lower limit for global corporate tax at 15% starting next year.
“Something that many people thought was impossible, we now know can actually be done,” said Zucman.
“The next logical step is to apply that logic to billionaires, and not just to multinational companies,” he added.
In the absence of a broad international push to implement a minimum tax on billionaires, Zucman said a unilateral “coalition of willing countries” could lead the effort. However, the report said, although the end of banking secrecy and minimum corporate taxes have ended decades of competition between countries over tax rates, there are still many opportunities to reduce tax bills.
[Gambas:Video CNBC]
Next Article
Video: Biden Administration Running Out of Money
(sef/sef)
Originally posted 2023-10-23 14:25:00.