A hundred MEPs demand a tax on the “ultra-rich”

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More than 130 MEPs have signed a petition in favor of the creation of a tax on the wealth of the “ultra-rich” on an international scale in order to participate in “the ecological and social transition”.  

“What we have succeeded in accomplishing for multinationals, we must now do for large fortunes”, write, in a column published in “Le Monde”, Aurore Lalucq (Socialists and Democrats group, left) and the economist Gabriel Zucman, initiator of this campaign.

“Our proposal is simple: introduce a progressive tax on the wealth of the ultra-rich on an international scale in order to reduce inequalities while participating in the financing of the investments necessary for the ecological and social transition”, explain the MEP and the economist, recognized expert on tax evasion and the taxation of high incomes.

The authors mention the idea of ​​a 1.5% tax on assets of 50 million euros , while affirming that the exact level of the tax will have to be decided “collectively and democratically”.

Ms Lalucq and Mr Zucman call on the OECD and the UN to launch negotiations on this tax, and urge the European Union to act.

They claim that in 2018, Elon Musk, then the second richest man in the world, “did not pay a penny in federal taxes” and that in France, “the 370 richest families are actually only taxed around 2 to 3%”.

Their petition has been signed essentiall ment by environmentalist and left-wing MEPs, by a dozen economists and by international NGOs including Oxfam.

To support their remarks, Ms. Lalucq and Mr. Zucman cite the example of tax minimum of 15% on the profits of multinationals, to which nearly 140 countries have joined “when everyone kept repeating that it was impossible”.