Measure is one of the main agendas of the Brazilian presidency in the G20
05/24/2024
One of the key agendas of the Brazilian presidency in the G20, the taxation of the super-rich at a global level, will only be feasible through international cooperation, said Felipe Antunes, coordinator of the International Financial Architecture Working Group, on Thursday. Before him, Finance Minister Fernando Haddad said that Brazil’s proposal “has gained traction” within the group.
Minister Haddad participated in the G20 International Taxation Symposium in Brasília. The event brought together representatives from various countries to discuss improvements in tax collection and the allocation of these resources. Another Brazilian initiative is for taxation to help combat social inequality and climate change.
Felipe Antunes noted that the wealthiest 0.1% of the world pays less tax proportionally and that “correcting this distortion is a challenge even for rich countries.”
The coordinator explained that only effective international cooperation, with the exchange of information between countries, will allow more effective control over transactions made to evade taxation. He also noted that the super-rich are “very mobile,” meaning they can efficiently move resources between countries.
The need for more equitable taxation on this demographic is one of the points of consensus among G20 members, both at the governmental level and within civil society. The challenge, however, will be finding a convergence point on how to operationalize higher tax collection.
Mr. Antunes also noted that tax autonomy is an important attribute of national sovereignty and that any changes require extensive debate. “It’s difficult to advance, hence the importance of international cooperation,” the coordinator emphasized.
Another Brazilian initiative during its presidency of the group, the reform of multilateral organizations, was addressed by Mr. Haddad. “We will need to rethink institutions, multilateral organizations, and multilateral banks, as well as international relations,” he said. “From there, we will rethink the financing of this equation, which is difficult,” the minister added.
Brazil, the minister said, needs to contribute “because inequality is a hallmark of our history.” “To this day, we face the challenge of reducing inequality. At times, we have managed to make some progress with great effort, but the results have been modest so far. There is still much to be done,” he argued.
The topic of global taxation will be discussed again in person at the G20 Finance Ministers’ meeting, scheduled for July in Rio.
*Por Murillo Camarotto, Guilherme Pimenta — Brasília
Source: Valor International