“What we have achieved for multinationals, we must do for the big fortunes”

ATWhile, since 2020, the richest 1% have captured nearly two-thirds of the wealth produced, extreme poverty has increased and the wages of nearly two billion people still fail to keep pace with the inflation.

Concretely, because numbers speak louder than words, in 2018, Elon Musk, then the second richest man in the world, did not pay a penny in federal taxes. Jeff Bezos did not pay taxes either in 2007 or in 2011 either. In France, a country renowned for its high level of taxation, the 370 richest families are actually only taxed around 3%.

How did we get there ? Quite simply because the very wealthy can use elaborate tax arrangements to reduce their tax rate to the bare minimum, which ordinary households cannot do, but also because countries have gradually abandoned taxation on wealth and the capital. A situation which is reminiscent of that which prevails between multinationals and SMEs. On average, the tax rate for SMEs in Europe exceeds 20%, when it stagnates around 9% for digital multinationals, for example.

Fiscal, economic and environmental injustices

Moreover, faced with this injustice and this breach of equality, a global agreement on the minimum taxation of multinationals has been drawn up under the aegis of the OECD. It will be effective on a European scale thanks to a directive definitively adopted at the end of 2022.

What we have succeeded in achieving for the multinationals, we must now do for the very wealthy.

On the model of this agreement, it is now necessary to reach an agreement on the taxation of the highest estates, in order to put an end to years of race to the lowest tax bidder and to fight against tax injustices, economic and environmental consequences.

Our proposal is simple: introduce a progressive tax on the wealth of the ultra-rich on an international scale in order to reduce inequalities, while participating in the financing of the investments necessary for the ecological and social transition. Many proposals exist in this direction, among which that of a taxation at 1.5% from a heritage of 50 million euros. It will be up to us to collectively and democratically decide on the fair and adequate level of this tax.

Millionaires claim to be taxed more

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