In an opinion piece for The Guardian, ministers from Spain, South Africa, Brazil and Germany have called for a tax on the world’s 3,000 billionaires in order to raise funds to address global warming, poverty and inequality. The ministers state that such a tax would target billionaires who do not pay income tax, and would work in tandem with corporate taxes for multinationals and taxes on the digital economy. The ministers present their case for the tax: “global billionaires pay only the equivalent of up to 0.5% of their wealth in personal income tax. It is crucial to ensure that our tax systems provide certainty, sufficient revenues, and treat all of our citizens fairly.”
