Former presidents and prime ministers have sent an open letter to the current leaders of the world’s 20 largest economies urging support for a global tax on billionaires in what they called a rare political opportunity.
The move comes as Brazil’s G-20 presidency, which proposed the measure in February, seeks to garner support for a declaration at a meeting of the group’s finance ministers and central bank governors in Rio de Janeiro later this month.
The letter, signed by 19 members of the Club de Madrid, a forum of former leaders with more than 100 participants, praises US President Joe Biden’s proposal for an income tax on billionaires but calls for joint cooperation to combat tax evasion by the wealthiest.
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“A global agreement on taxing the very wealthy would be beneficial to multilateralism, proving that governments can come together for the common good,” the letter says.
Signatories from various political parties included Michelle Bachelet of Chile, Stefan Löfven of Sweden, Felipe González and José Luis RodrÃguez Zapatero of Spain, Dominique de Villepin of France, Kim Campbell of Canada, Julia Gillard of Australia and Han Seung-soo of South Korea.
The Brazilian proposal, drafted by French economist Gabriel Zucman of the independent European Union Tax Observatory, calls for a 2% annual tax on wealth over $1 billion, which could raise up to $250 billion annually from about 3,000 individuals.
A communiqué issued at the latest G7 meeting in June said the group would continue to work with Brazil, the G20 presidency, to enhance international cooperation and promote efforts towards progressive and equitable taxation of individuals, but some countries have already raised objections.
In May, German Finance Minister Christian Lindner said his country views new components of the global tax agenda with great skepticism, while US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said the United States could not support negotiations on the redistribution of income between countries.
France, Spain, Colombia, Belgium, the African Union and South Africa, which will hold the G20 presidency next year, have already backed the initiative.
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