LONDON: The global corporate tax reform that came into effect this year was something of a miracle. Less than a decade ago, few would have thought it realistic that most countries in the world would ever agree to close loopholes for corporate taxation, institute a global minimum rate and decide how to apportion the new tax take – set to be more than US$200 billion a year – among themselves.
French economist Gabriel Zucman speaks during a press conference on the sidelines of a G20 finance ministers meeting in Sao Paulo, Brazil Any income and wealth taxes actually paid would be deducted. This would still leave billionaires pulling away from the rest of us.It may sound pie-in-the-sky – impossibly complicated and politically dead on arrival.
Commentary: Crucial to secure Singapore’s main revenue source, given little leeway for more GST or wealth taxes My own conversations convince me a second Biden administration would want to double down on its landmark achievements on infrastructure and industrial policy, and this is surely an attractive way to fund that.
Zucman and his collaborators estimate in their most recent Tax Evasion Report that their proposal would raise about €40 billion annually across Europe. Not all of that is in the EU, but for comparison that amount would cover nearly a quarter of the bloc’s budgeted spending for 2024.