Global billionaire tax could yield $250 billion annually, study says

If levied, the sum would be equivalent to only 2% of the nearly $13 trillion in wealth owned by the 2,700 billionaires globally, the research group hosted at the Paris School of Economics said.

Currently billionaires’ effective personal tax is often far less than what other taxpayers of more modest means pay because they can park wealth in shell companies sheltering them from income tax, the group said in its 2024 Global Tax Evasion Report.

“In our view, this is difficult to justify because it risks to undermine the sustainability of tax systems and the social acceptability of taxation,” the observatory’s director Gabriel Zucman told journalists.

Billionaires’ personal tax in the United States is estimated to be close to 0.5% and as low as zero in otherwise high-tax France, the Observatory estimated.

gearheart,

If billionaires were taxed according. How would that help/hurt society in the next 100 years or so.

For example would many of today’s problems not be a problem if this has been happening all along?

Legitimate question here.

RalphWaldoEmers0n,

Depends who is spending it

PopcornTin,

That enough to give Ukraine for a whole three months!

blanketswithsmallpox,

Ayyyy an actual reputable article that shows the approximate proper amount of total wealth owned by billionaires currently.

U.S. President Joe Biden’s 2024 budget included plans for a 25% minimum tax on the wealthiest 0.01%, but that proposal has since fallen by the wayside with lawmakers in Washington preoccupied with government shutdown threats and looming funding deadlines.

www.usdebtclock.org

doublejay1999,
@doublejay1999@lemmy.world avatar

It’s much too late once that money has been accumulated in one place.

DingDongBell,

the taxed amount will be passed to everyone else

fosforus,

Yes. This is why humanity desperately needs a global government, and I’m saying that without irony. The deep problems on how to govern such a thing still exist, though. We all know how easily democracy can be corrupted, for instance, so that’s clearly not the magic answer. The people who are currently powerful would actively resist such a thing, and since they’re powerful, they will be successful in resisting it.

An obvious route to such a thing would be using incredible amounts of violence against the currently powerful, and then this world government would be based on violence. Also not a good starting point.

We could just give the reins to AI at some point? Perhaps 99% of sci-fi writers writing about this outcome are just deluded and don’t know what they’re imagining. I volunteer to write and operate that AI.

subignition,
@subignition@kbin.social avatar

I appreciate this post because it has Farnsworth energy. "How can we solve this problem? Incredible violence? ...No, no... That's too easy..."

Phoenix3875,

For those who want a deeper dive into the tax evasion problem (albeit mainly focused on the US), I recommend The Triumph of Injustice: How the Rich Dodge Taxes and How to Make Them Pay by Emmanuel Saez and Gabriel Zucman.

Akasazh,
@Akasazh@feddit.nl avatar

Nice try, Zucman

Rakonat,

A proper billionaire tax would be to tax them until they are no longer billionaires

CareHare,

You’ve reached $999 999 999 in wealth! Congratulations you win the hoarding game.

To play again, just donate everything equally to the poorest 1 000 000 in your country.

Just think of all the fun you had in your first game, why not give it a second try?

Shimitar,

Good luck in getting any money out of billionaires in taxes. They would just become untaxable for some new loopholes. Always assuming you could get to the point a law is passed to tax them in the first place.

iopq,

That’s… a tiny sum. It wouldn’t even cover the current deficit which is 1.685 trillion

It wouldn’t even go towards servicing the debt, just making it grow slower

Honytawk,

Still better than not collecting them at all

iopq,

But you realize this is world-wide, not even just the US? Even if the US collects it, it would only be a fraction of this number. If the US collects it, but other countries don’t, then billionaires will become citizens of other countries for tax purposes

mctoasterson,

I was gonna say… This $250 Billion amount would barely cover any 6 month span of omnibus bills in US Congress.

Biden just proposed $105 Billion in spending on Ukraine/Israel/Border spending.

Nudding,

Imagine if we didn’t have any more billionaires, how many trillions of dollars we could spend on us normals.

Maeve,

Doooo eeet.

Drusas,

I know this comment isn't useful, but wouldn't that be fucking nice. Never going to happen.

KpntAutismus,

who would have thought that taxing the richest money hoarders would actually bring money back into the economy?

ackzsel,

Actually it won't because they will never let it happen.

PugJesus,
@PugJesus@kbin.social avatar

Billionaires’ personal tax in the United States is estimated to be close to 0.5% and as low as zero in otherwise high-tax France, the Observatory estimated.

Billionaires benefit massively from the state apparatus, but refuse to contribute even as much as ordinary citizens.

Billionaires should not exist.

  • All
  • Subscribed
  • Moderated
  • Favorites
  • •
  • random
  • uselessserver093
  • Food
  • [email protected]
  • aaaaaaacccccccce
  • test
  • CafeMeta
  • testmag
  • MUD
  • RhythmGameZone
  • RSS
  • dabs
  • oklahoma
  • Socialism
  • KbinCafe
  • TheResearchGuardian
  • SuperSentai
  • feritale
  • KamenRider
  • All magazines
    •