More than 100 of the world’s wealthiest people have petitioned governments to increase their tax burden.
The Patriotic Millionaires group claims that the ultra-rich are not being forced to contribute to the global economic recovery following the coronavirus pandemic.
In an open letter, they wrote, “As millionaires, we know that the current tax system is not fair.”
Mr Hanauer is a US entrepreneur and an early investor in Amazon, the world’s largest online retailer.
“While the world has suffered enormously in the last two years, most of us can say that our wealth has increased during the pandemic – yet few, if any, of us can honestly say that we pay our fair share in taxes,” the signatories wrote in a letter to the World Economic Forum.
Earlier at the forum, which is being held virtually due to Covid rather than in its usual home of Davos, Oxfam said the pandemic made the world’s wealthiest people far wealthier while also increasing poverty levels.
Lower incomes for the world’s poorest contributed to the deaths of 21,000 people every day, according to the report, but the world’s 10 wealthiest men have more than doubled their fortunes since March 2020.
According to Credit Suisse research, the number of millionaires worldwide will increase by 5.2 million in 2020, to a total of 56.1 million.
According to the group, taxing the UK’s wealthiest 119,000 people at such rates would generate £43.71 billion per year.
They suggested that the money could be used to eliminate planned National Insurance tax hikes to fund social care in England, pay for the salaries of 50,000 nurses, and give Universal Credit a permanent boost.
According to the report, $2.52 trillion could lift 2.3 billion people out of poverty and produce enough vaccines for the entire world.
British entrepreneur Gemma McGough, a founding member of Patriotic Millionaires, UK, said: “It’s past time to right the wrongs of an unequal world for the sake of all of our well-being, rich and poor alike. It’s past time for the wealthy to be taxed.”
“At a time when simply living will cost the average household an extra £1,200 a year, our government cannot expect to be trusted if it prefers to tax working people over wealthy people,” Ms McGough concluded.
“If they do anything in the next few months, they should tax the rich – tax us – instead of raising National Insurance.”
The signatories of the open letter claimed that business and political leaders would “not find the answer in a private forum” and that they were “part of the problem.”
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