A recent study by the European Union (EU) Tax Observatory shows that billionaires around the world have effective tax rates equivalent to 0% to 0.5% of their wealth. Experts warn about a possible minimum tax.
Evidence shows that this minimal or no taxation is associated with the frequent use of shell companies to evade income taxes.
“The main proposal is to introduce a global minimum tax on billionaires equal to 2% of their wealth,” the Fiscal Observatory suggested, adding that the measure could force tax machines to distribute 236 billion euros ($250 billion) globally. .
In addition, the data shows that the 15% global minimum tax for multinational corporations has weakened over time, when it was originally expected to increase global tax revenues by almost 10%.
Experts also note that a strengthened global minimum tax on multinational companies would raise more than 236 billion euros ($250 billion) a year.
On the other hand, EU research shows that offshore tax evasion by the super-rich has fallen. “Thanks to the automatic exchange of bank information, we estimate that offshore tax evasion has approximately tripled over the past 10 years. This success shows that rapid progress can be made in the fight against tax evasion if there is political will to do so,” they write in the study.
This report, prepared by a team at the EU Tax Observatory, a research laboratory established in 2021 to analyze international tax issues, summarizes the work carried out by more than 100 researchers from around the world, often in partnership with tax authorities.