Global minimum tax on billionaires could generate $250 billion annually, finds EU Study

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How the billionaires income tax would work At present, billionaires often pay substantially less in personal taxes compared to individuals with more modest incomes. They achieve this by placing their wealth in shell companies, which shield them from income tax, as highlighted in the 2024 Global Tax Evasion Report from the group.

The EU Tax Observatory's director, Gabriel Zucman, expressed concerns about the impact of such practices on tax systems and public acceptance of taxation, stating that it is difficult to justify these disparities. In the United States, billionaires' personal tax is estimated to be close to 0.5 percent, and it can even be as low as zero in high-tax countries such as France, according to the Observatory's estimates.

Calls to impose a greater tax burden on the wealthiest citizens are growing due to increasing wealth inequality and the need for public finances to support aging populations, address climate transition, and manage COVID-related debt. US President Joe Biden included plans for a 25 percent minimum tax on the top 0.01 percent of income earners in his 2024 budget.

However, this proposal has faced delays and uncertainties in the face of government shutdown threats and looming funding deadlines in Washington. And although the establishment of a coordinated international approach to taxing billionaires could take years, the EU Tax Observatory cited successful instances where governments significantly reduced bank secrecy and curbed opportunities for multinational companies to shift profits to low-tax jurisdictions.

The automatic sharing of account information launched in 2018 has led to a threefold reduction in wealth held in offshore tax havens, as estimated by the observatory. A 2021