Group of millionaires asks to pay more taxes at World Economic Forum

More of 100 millionaires and billionaires made this Tuesday (18) a call for the “ultra-rich” to pay more taxes. The request was made public in a letter during a virtual meeting at the World Economic Forum. “Force us to pay more taxes,” said the group that calls itself “Patriot Millionaires.” They consider that they are not being forced to pay their share to ensure the recovery from the global economic crisis caused by the pandemic.

“As millionaires, we know that the current tax system is not fair. Most of us can say that while the world has gone through an immense burden of suffering in the last two years, we’ve actually seen our fortunes grow during the pandemic — few if any of us can honestly say we’ve paid our fair share in taxes,” they said.

A study published by the NGO Oxfam showed that even during the pandemic, the fortunes of the ten richest people on the planet increased by US$ 1.5 trillion, equivalent to US$ 15 a thousand per second, as shown by the newspaper O Globe. Abigail Disney, heiress of the Disney group, and investor Nick Hanauer, are among the signatories of the letter.

The study also points out the need for a progressive tax on fortunes. According to the survey, taxing large fortunes from 2% (for $5 million) to 5% (billionaires) could raise $2,15 trillion and lift 2.3 billion people out of poverty.