Make us pay more tax, ‘Patriotic Millionaires’ tell WEF

© Keystone / Gaetan Bally

A group of over 100 members of the global super-rich have called on governments to rewrite tax laws to make taxation fairer to help tackle the gulf between rich and poor. They made the call on the occasion of the World Economic Forum’s virtual WEF Davos Agenda 2022 conference.

“As millionaires, we know that the current tax system is not fair,” the “Patriotic Millionaires” group said in an open letter published on WednesdayExternal link.

“Most of us can say that, while the world has gone through an immense amount of suffering in the last two years, we have actually seen our wealth rise during the pandemic – yet few if any of us can honestly say that we pay our fair share in taxes.”

The groupExternal link urges governments to “tax us, the rich, and tax us now.”

Over the course of the two years of the pandemic, the fortunes of the world’s 10 richest individuals have risen to $1.5 trillion (CHF1.37 trillion) – or by $15,000 a second – a study by Oxfam this week revealed.

A WEF spokesperson told Reuters that paying a fair share of taxes was one of the forum’s tenets, and a wealth tax – as exists in Switzerland, where the organisation is based – could be a good model to deploy elsewhere.

According to a study by the Patriotic Millionaires together with Oxfam and other non-profits, a progressive wealth tax starting at 2% for those with more than $5 million, and rising to 5% for billionaires, could raise $2.52 trillion. This would be enough to lift 2.3 billion people out of poverty and guarantee healthcare and social protection for individuals living in lower-income countries.

Heads of state are joining business leaders and other prominent figures this week to discuss pressing issues at the WEF’s Davos Agenda 2022 conferenceExternal link, held virtually from January 17-21.

The online meeting has been organised in place of the Geneva-based WEF’s annual summit, which normally sees the world’s rich and powerful converge on the Swiss mountain resort of Davos each winter, but which has been moved to the summer due to the pandemic.