Oxfam welcomes G20 Ministers’ decision to tax the super-rich
Attention: Editors
Date: July 27, 2024
Oxfam welcomes the G20 Ministerial Declaration on International Tax Cooperation agreed to in Rio de Janeiro today.
Oxfam South Africa congratulates Finance Minister, Enoch Godongwana for supporting the declaration, which includes a commitment to working together to ensure that ultra-high-net worth individuals are taxed more effectively.
South Africa is the most unequal country in the world. South Africa’s top five-dollar billionaires – have a combined wealth of $29 billion.
The country’s billionaires’ combined wealth has increased by a third since 2020, while the bottom 99 percent have become poorer.
Responding to the Rio de Janeiro G20 Ministerial Declaration on International Tax Cooperation published today, Oxfam International’s Tax Policy Lead, Susana Ruiz, said:
“This is serious global progress —for the first time in history, the world’s largest economies have agreed to cooperate to tax the ultra-rich. Finally, the richest people are being told they can’t game the tax system or avoid paying their fair share.
“Governments have for too long been complicit in helping the ultra-rich pay little or zero tax. Massive fortunes afford the world’s ultra-rich outsized influence and power, which they wield to shield, stash and supersize their wealth, undercutting democracy and widening inequality.
“Now to the next step: at the G20 Summit in November this year, leaders need to go further than their finance ministers and back concrete coordination: agreeing on a new global standard that taxes the ultra-rich at a rate high enough to close the gap between them and the rest of us.
“Brazil has kickstarted a truly global approach to taxing the ultra-rich. But the work is just beginning, and international cooperation is crucial.
“We call on G20 leaders to align with the progress being made at the UN and establish a truly democratic process for setting global standards on taxing the ultra-rich. Entrusting this task to the OECD —the club of mostly rich countries— would simply not be good enough.”
ENDS
Notes to editors
- In April 2024, Finance Minister, Enoch Godongwana backed a global deal on taxing the super-rich, along with Svenja Schulze (German Minister For Economic Cooperation And Development) Fernando Haddad (Brazilian Finance Minister), María Jesús Montero (Spanish Minister of Finance) and Carlos Cuerpo (Spanish Minister of Economy, Trade And Business).
- For footage and analysis, please view Oxfam South Africa in conversation with Professor Gabriel Zucman on the implications of taxing the super-rich.
Contact information
Philani Ndebele, philani.ndebele@oxfam.org.za, 076 942 3565.
