In line with CESR’s and partners' demands to G20 finance ministers, and the T20 calling for creating a global minimum tax on high-net-worth individuals, the text recognizes the importance of cooperating to ensure that the ultra-rich are effectively taxed.
This Thursday, the G20 Ministers of Finance issued a declaration recognizing the importance of the ultra-rich paying their fair share in taxes, and noting how tax avoidance by these individuals undermines the fairness and effectiveness of progressive taxation. The biggest economies in the world also recognize that economic inequalities undermine social cohesion and increase social vulnerabilities.
The G20 therefore committed to cooperate to “ensure that ultra-high-net-worth individuals are effectively taxed”, and further discuss the issues in the G20 and other relevant forums.
G20 members should work towards strengthening their commitments to taxing the super-rich in the final declaration of the G20 in November, and turning them into actionable pledges that respond to the demands of their people.
The recognition of the unfairness of current tax systems by G20 members is timely in light of the negotiations resuming next week towards a Tax Convention at the UN. More than ever, states must maintain the taxation of the ultra-rich as a key commitment in the convention, as CESR has argued in its previous work. They should also include bold commitments to progressivity and equality (including gender equality) in the Convention’s Terms of Reference. Next week, we will be at the UN demanding that states follow their human rights obligation to combat inequality and discrimination when negotiating a Framework Tax Convention.