Brazilian Finance Minister Fernando Haddad this Thursday defended the creation of a global tax on the super-rich, a solution to allow them to pay more taxes that depends on international cooperation, he stressed at the opening of the G20 meeting.
“I believe countries can do a lot for themselves, but effective solutions to ensure the super-rich pay their fair share of taxes depend on international cooperation,” Haddad said at the opening of the second day of the meeting. finance ministers and central bank governors of the G20 countries.
The Brazilian minister personally took part in the opening of the second day of the summit, which brings together in Sao Paulo, the financial capital of Brazil, representatives of the group of twenty largest economies in the world and invited countries, including Portugal, represented by Finance Minister Fernando Medina.
Haddad cited the development of international cooperation over the past ten years in relation to information exchange, transparency and minimum taxation, citing actions by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the UN and the G20 itself.
“Despite recent advances, the undeniable fact is that the world’s billionaires continue to evade our tax system through a variety of strategies. The most recent EU Tax Observatory report on tax evasion showed that they pay an effective tax rate equivalent to zero to half. percentage of your wealth,” he said.
Therefore, Brazil’s finance minister called on G20 member countries to act together on taxing billionaires, urging them to contribute to “society and the sustainable development of the planet.”
Haddad also said that wealth taxation is becoming the third pillar of the international tax agenda and cooperation, and called on the United Nations and the OECD to join forces to advance the tax cooperation agenda.
Thus, according to the Brazilian minister, it will be possible to reduce the ability of a small number of billionaires to “continue to take advantage of holes in tax systems in order to avoid paying dues.”
A Brazilian government official said it aims to submit a joint international tax return by July.
“I would like to announce that this Presidency will seek to produce a G20 Declaration on International Taxation for our ministerial meeting in July. We will consult with all members and work together to produce a balanced but ambitious document that reflects our legitimate aspirations,” he concluded.
Brazil, which chairs the forum bringing together the world’s largest economies, is hosting the first G20 finance ministerial.
The meetings take place in Sao Paulo, where 450 delegates representing G20 members and nine countries, as well as 17 invited international organizations, are present.
Portugal will attend more than 100 G20 working group meetings at technical and ministerial level in Brazil’s five regions, culminating in the Heads of State and Government Summit in Rio de Janeiro on 18 and 19 November.
Angola was also invited by the Brazilian President and is present in Sao Paulo with a delegation led by Finance Minister Vera Davez de Sousa.
The meeting, which also includes central bank governors (without the presence of Portugal’s Mario Centeno), takes place in a volatile global context marked by new geopolitical tensions and amid debate over the pace of monetary policy. weakening after post-pandemic inflationary escalation.