Today's Edition
Rio de Janeiro (dpa)
The G20 finance ministers have agreed to work towards effective taxation of the super-rich following a meeting in Rio de Janeiro.
"With full respect to tax sovereignty, we will seek to engage cooperatively to ensure that ultra-high-net-worth individuals are effectively taxed," the ministers said in a final declaration.
"Cooperation could involve exchanging best practices, encouraging debates around tax principles, and devising anti-avoidance mechanisms, including addressing potentially harmful tax practices," the statement said.
"The fight against hunger, poverty, inequality and the taxation of the super-rich are on the international economic agenda," said Brazil's Finance Minister Fernando Haddad in a post on X.
Although the final declaration does not outline any specific measures, Haddad described it as a "significant step forward."
The concept initially presented by Brazil envisaged that billionaires would pay at least 2 percent of their assets in tax every year.
This could lead to revenues of up to $250 billion, which could be used to combat hunger and conflict, for pandemic prevention and for climate protection, Brazil said.
The proposal has divided the G20 states, however. While France, Spain and South Africa, among others, expressed their support, the United States is against it.
In Germany, the Finance Ministry has rejected the idea of discussing a tax on billionaires at the G20 level.
Development Minister Svenja Schulze, from the Social Democrats, has on the other hand shown herself to be open to the idea.
