G20 nations have agreed to work together “to make the super-rich pay their taxes”, but stopped short of a more substantial deal, according to a declaration adopted Friday after a meeting of finance ministers in Rio de Janeiro.
The topic of tackling tax-dodging billionaires dominated the two-day meeting in the Brazilian city, which will host the next G20 summit in November.
A G20 statement said the initiative is a key priority for Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who heads the group, which includes the world’s major economies, the European Union and the African Union.
While many members were seeking a minimum tax on the super-rich, the final statement represents a compromise on a topic that divided member states, it said.
“With full respect to tax sovereignty, we will seek to engage cooperatively to ensure that ultra-high-net-worth individuals are effectively taxed,” said the statement. “Wealth and income inequalities are undermining economic growth and social cohesion and aggravating social vulnerabilities.”
Brazil’s Finance Minister Fernando Haddad said that from a moral point of view it is important that the 20 richest nations consider that we have a problem, which is to have progressive taxation on the poor and not on the rich”.
The United States and Germany dismissed the need for a global deal on taxing billionaires, an initiative which is backed by France, Spain, South Africa, Colombia and the African Union.
International Monetary Fund chief Kristalina Georgieva praised the G20’s position on tax fairness. “The shared vision of G20 Ministers on progressive taxation is timely and welcome, as the need to rebuild fiscal buffers while also attending to social and development needs involves difficult decisions in many countries,” she said in a statement.
And Camila Jardim of Greenpeace Brazil said: “The climate crisis is expected to cost trillions of dollars every year and it is outrageous to expect that the regular taxpayer should pay for it, while the super-rich evade taxes.”
“The climate crisis is expected to cost trillions of dollars every year and it is outrageous to expect that the regular taxpayer should pay for it, while the super-rich evade taxes.”
Camila Jardim, Greenpeace Brazil
