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RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) – Brazil’s finance minister told colleagues at a meeting Thursday. G20 meeting In São Paulo, he argued that countries should introduce a global tax on the ultra-wealthy to tackle rampant tax evasion.
Fernando Haddad said tax evasion could be solved through international cooperation so that “these few people contribute to the sustainable development of our societies and our planet.”
He added that Brazil is pushing for a declaration on international taxation by G20 member states and hopes it will be ready in July. However, in a press conference after the meeting, he acknowledged that the road will not be smooth.
“There will be a lot of debate about this, and that’s perfectly natural, especially since not all countries feel the same way about this issue that Brazil brought to the G20,” he said. Ta.
Brazil currently holds the chair and serves as president of 20 major rich and developing countries. Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva puts issues relevant to developing countries at the center of its agenda, such as reducing inequality and reforming multilateral institutions.
Pointing to environmental, social and financial issues, Haddad said: “Brazil has a role to play and there is legitimacy to use it on issues that need to be addressed but are not necessarily represented in the G20.” .
Countries around the world could lose up to $4.8 trillion in tax revenue over the next 10 years to tax havens, according to a 2023 study by the advocacy group Tax Justice Network. In a report released earlier this year, EU Tax Surveillance Office A paper cited by Haddad found that billionaires around the world have an effective tax rate of between 0% and 0.5% of their wealth.
In recent years, the following scandals have occurred one after another. Panama Papers leak And the Paradise Papers highlighted the prevalence of tax evasion and evasion in business practices.
Meanwhile, the disparity between the ultra-rich and the majority of the world’s population supercharged since the coronavirus pandemic, according to anti-poverty group Oxfam International.
“Today, we pay less taxes on assets than we did 20 to 30 years ago. The global trend is to reduce taxes on businesses and wealth,” said Andre Vereta-Nahum, sociology professor at the University of São Paulo. he said.
However, as inequality widens, calls are growing, including from US President Joe Biden, to increase taxes on the wealthy. Who pushed for a minimum income tax on billionaires? However, the chances of Congress passing the proposal are minimal.
In a sign of growing global consensus on the issue, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution Late last year, it supported strengthening international tax cooperation to “make it more fully inclusive and more effective.”
“The difficulty is that the problem is no longer on the table, the data is there. It’s difficult to find a common document,” says economist at the Getulio Vargas Foundation, a university and think tank. Carla Beni said.
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Follow AP’s coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean. https://apnews.com/hub/latin-america
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