Bloomberg: Lula's Billionaire Tax Kicked Into Distant Future as G-20 Sets Limits

Christopher Condon, Jana Randow, and William Horobin
July 24, 2024 at 12:52PM EDT


(Bloomberg) -- Global finance leaders are poised to set limits on Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s call for a global tax on billionaires, consigning the initiative to research on taxation and inequality that could take years to deliver results.

Group of 20 finance ministers gathering this week in Rio de Janeiro will likely issue a joint declaration on Thursday calling for studies on how governments can increase transparency and fairness when it comes to taxing individuals, according to officials from multiple countries attending the meetings.

That task will be carried out by the architects of a global minimum levy on corporations, a G-20 plan that’s made some progress in recent years. Still, the planned declaration was described by some as a polite way of putting Lula’s proposal on ice.

The idea has split the G-20 and the Group of Seven, with France’s vocal backing running into a swift rejection from other developed countries, led by the US. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has said the US supports progressive taxation but would not support a global arrangement on taxing the super-rich that then redistributed the proceeds across borders.

More:
https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/business/international/2024/07/24/lulas-billionaire-tax-kicked-into-distant-future-as-g-20-sets-limits/