Proposta de ONGs, e do governo brasileiro, para a implementação de uma taxa financeira global sobre os megarricos
Transcrevendo:
Wednesday, 10 July 2024
Dear G20 Leaders,
We, the undersigned former Heads of State and Government of G20 and higher-
income countries, write to ask for your leadership to back the Brazilian G20
presidency’s proposal for a new global deal to tax the world’s ultra-rich
individuals.
We, as former leaders, recognize a rare strategic opportunity when we see one.
Taxes are the foundation of a civilized, industrious, and prosperous society. Yet our
time is one in which the ultra-rich across the world pay a lower tax rate than
teachers and cleaners. Billionaires, globally, are paying a tax rate equivalent to less
than 0.5% of their wealth. Trillions of dollars that could have been productively
invested in communities, education, health, and infrastructure have instead been
unproductively accumulated by the ultra-wealthy.
Extreme inequality follows. In G20 countries, the share of income of the top 1% of
earners has risen by 45% over four decades while top tax rates on their incomes
were cut by roughly a third. That too many people feel the social contract is broken
and their democracies have left them behind is all too understandable.
We know you know this. But our time is also one of promise, and Brazil’s G20
proposal underlines the opportunity to write a new story about taxation for the
first time in a generation.
We commend governments providing leadership and championing bold proposals
to address inequality. Consider President Biden’s proposed billionaire income tax,
that sets a global example. Across the world and political spectrum, taxing the
ultra-rich enjoys consistent popular support, even among the ultra-rich
themselves. The leadership of the G20 was vital to securing a global deal for a
minimum tax on corporations. Now it’s time to do the same for the ultra-rich.
Every government must tax the ultra-rich. Every country can act. National action
is indispensable. We need to tax billionaires’ income in every country.
But national action alone can only go so far. Global capital does not respect national
borders. Tax avoidance and evasion by the ultra-rich succeeds when governments
fail to work together. We need global cooperation.
That is why the proposal set out by President Lula and the Brazilian G20
presidency for a new global deal for taxing the world’s ultra-rich individuals is
strategic and necessary.Now is the time to foster cooperation for a shared standard so every billionaire on
earth is paying a minimum level of their income in tax. We commend the
governments of France, South Africa and other countries supporting this much-
needed G20 proposal, and join the distinguished economists who champion it.
A new global deal to tax the ultra-rich is, crucially, in the service of strengthening
national efforts to ensure the ultra-rich cannot evade domestic taxation efforts. It
would reduce inequality and raise trillions of dollars necessary for investments in
industrial policy and a just transition.
A global deal to tax the ultra-rich would be a shot in the arm for multilateralism:
proving that governments can come together for the common good, especially at a
time of fractured North-South solidarity in a decade that has seen a pandemic and
war. It would build upon the G20 2021 minimum global corporate tax deal agreed
to by 136 countries.
And a global deal would also help our economies to be more productive and
resilient in the face of shocks. It must be designed in a manner that eases the tax
burden on the working classes; that is ambitious enough to redress inequality; and
that respects each country’s own policy choices for taxation.
We know, first-hand, the reality of political office and the constraints of leadership
– including the pressures placed upon you. Rare is a proposal that asks us as
former leaders to rally in unity – and that we recognize as politically possible. This,
clearly, is one.
Dear G20 leaders – you lead the world’s most powerful economies and in this time
of political and economic malaise, you can be the shepherds of progress and
change. We ask that you offer the world leadership for a new consensus on
taxation. We stand ready to support you on this agenda.
Sincerely yours,
(...)
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Comentário PRA: Não vai funcionar. OK, vamos elaborar.
Primeiro problema: Como separar os países do G20 entre "higher-income countries" e os que não o são?
China, por exemplo, tem o segundo maior PIB do mundo, mas uma renda per capita média, não alta, e tem o maior número de bilionários, depois dos EUA (mas crescendo ao triplo da velocidade da acumulação de riqueza). O Brasil é a oitava maior economia do mundo, mas com uma renda per capita estagnada há décadas.
Segundo problema: fazer a lista dos megarricos, um punhado apenas de trilionários, e alguns milhares de bilionários. Quem entra, quem fica de fora?
Terceiro problema: identificar a riqueza líquida. Ou se pretende liquidar ações, mansões, iates, carros de luxo, dinheiro aplicado em investimentos financeiros (em países pobres) ou até em arte?
Quarto problema: Quem implementa o esquema? A ONU, o FMI, o BIS, o próprio G20?
Quinto problema: Como identificar os "alvos" da suposta bonança financeira? Fazer uma listinha de miseráveis, aos quais seria facultado um cartão de crédito para consumo?
Sexto problema: Taxar superricos e distribuir o dinheiro – como se isso fosse fácil ou possível – vai realmente acabar com a miséria no mundo, ou criar mais alguns "ricos" nos canais de distribuição, implementação e controle?
Podem até assinar a declaração no Rio de Janeiro, mas sua implementação, se algum dia acontecer, levará anos. Países decentes terão enriquecido no meio do caminho, com a globalização econômica, não com o ilusório Brics ou Sul Global.
Paulo Roberto de Almeida
Brasília, 21 julho 2024
