It is estimated that a tax on the super-rich would raise more than €2.5 trillion annually. This money could be used to fight pandemics and poverty, according to a number of international organizations.
A number of international organizations and millionaires have proposed a tax on the super-rich to fight the coronavirus pandemic. “While billions of people struggle in the face of a pandemic for survival, the assets of billionaires are spiraling out of control. It can’t be fair,” Fight Inequality Alliance coordinator Jenny Ricks said Wednesday, Jan. 19.
The activists unveiled their initiative on the occasion of the World Economic Forum in Davos, which this year, due to the coronavirus pandemic, is taking place in a virtual format.
How much should the super-rich pay
Together with the international humanitarian organization Oxfam, the American Political Science Institute and the association of wealthy Americans Patriotic Millionaires, the anti-disparity movement proposed to introduce a global tax on the super-rich depending on the size of their fortunes. Assets over $5 million would be taxed at an annual rate of 2 percent; estates over $50 million would be taxed at 3 percent; and estates over $1 billion would be taxed at 5 percent.
Activists estimate that more than $2.5 trillion could be collected annually as a result. This would lift 2.3 billion people out of poverty and provide coronavirus vaccines for the entire global population.