As G20 Finance Ministers prepare to consider a wealth tax on the super-rich next month amid climate change crisis impacting lives and livelihood, a survey has revealed that 68 per cent of people in these countries, including 74 per cent in India, support the idea to address global hunger and inequality.
The proposal for a levy on the super-rich has been under discussion since 2013 with international support on the issue growing over the years.
The survey by the Earth4All initiative and Global Commons Alliance surveyed 22,000 citizens in the world’s largest economies. Brazil, the current president of the G20, aims to build consensus on the taxation of wealth and is likely to push for a joint declaration at a meeting of G20 finance ministers in July.
Gabriel Zucman, a French economist and a key influencer behind Brazil’s G20 proposal for progressive international taxation to promote tax justice, will release a report on Tuesday, outlining how “a global minimum tax on the ultra-rich” could work and how much it could raise.
According to Zucman, the super-rich pay significantly less tax than the ordinary people. The proposal aims to establish a new international standard: billionaires in every country would be required to pay at least 2 per cent of their wealth in taxes annually.
Nationwide, support for a wealth tax on wealthy people is highest in Indonesia (86%), Turkey (78%), the UK (77%) and India (74%). Support is lowest in Saudi Arabia (54%), and Argentina (54%), but still over half the respondents surveyed. In the United States, France and Germany around two in three of those surveyed support a wealth tax on wealthy people (67%, 67% and 68% respectively).
Owen Gaffney, co-lead of Earth4All, said, “Indians want a giant leap on climate and nature -- 68 per cent demand dramatic reforms across all economic sectors within the next decade. This is a strong mandate for planetary stewardship that cannot be ignored.”
Seventy-four per cent of Indians support taxing wealth. Tax on high incomes and corporations to fund climate initiatives alongside a ‘polluter pays’ approach with income redistribution are also strongly supported, he said.
Seventy-one per cent of Indians endorse universal basic income, 74 per cent support policies that encourage healthy diets to cut emissions, and 76 per cent seek a better work-life balance.
