「私たちに課税を」　世界の富豪１０２人、富裕税の導入呼び掛け

【パリＡＦＰ＝時事】世界の富豪１０２人が１９日、「今こそ私たち富裕層に課税を」と、政財界のリーダーに富裕税の導入を呼び掛ける異例の書簡を公表した。（写真は資料写真）
　書簡は、世界経済フォーラム（ＷＥＦ）が主催するオンライン会議「ダボス・アジェンダ」に合わせて、「パトリオティック・ミリオネアズ」や国際ＮＧＯオックスファム・インターナショナルなどによって公表された。
　署名したのは、米娯楽・メディア大手ウォルト・ディズニー共同創業者の孫アビゲイル・ディズニー氏ら米、カナダ、独、英、デンマーク、ノルウェー、豪、オランダ、イランの富豪。
　１０２人は現行の課税制度は不公平で「富める者がより豊かになるよう意図的に設計されている」と批判した上で、「世界のすべての国は、富裕層に適正な税負担を求めなければならない」「今こそ私たち富裕層に課税を」と訴えた。
　「パンデミックのこの２年間、世界がとてつもない苦しみを味わう一方、われわれの富は増加した。しかし、適正な税を負担したと心から言える者はほとんどいないと言えるだろう」
　パトリオティック・ミリオネアズなどが実施した調査によると、資産５００万ドル（約５億７０００万円）以上で２％、５０００万ドル（約５７億円）以上で３％、１０億ドル（約１１４０億円）以上で５％の富裕税を導入すれば、毎年２兆５２００億ドル（約２８８兆円）が集まる見込み。全人類に新型コロナウイルスワクチンを提供し、２３億人を貧困から脱却させるのに十分な額だという。
　オックスファムは１７日、世界の富豪上位１０人が、新型コロナウイルスのパンデミック（世界的な大流行）の２年間で総資産を２倍以上の１兆５０００億ドル（約１７２兆円）に増やす一方、貧困層は増加し格差が拡大したとする報告書を発表した。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】

〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2022/01/21-11:34）

More than 100 millionaires made an unusual plea on Wednesday: Tax us now.
Their appeal came as a study backed by wealthy individuals and nonprofits found that a wealth tax on the world's richest people could raise $2.52 trillion per year -- enough to pay for Covid vaccines for everyone and pull 2.3 billion people out of poverty.
In an open letter to the World Economic Forum's online Davos meeting, 102 millionaires, including Disney heiress Abigail Disney, said the current tax system is unfair and deliberately designed to make the rich richer.
The world -- every country in it -- must demand the rich pay their fair share, the letter says. Tax us, the rich, and tax us now.
Their plea follows a report by global charity Oxfam this week which said that the world's 10 wealthiest men doubled their fortunes to $1.5 trillion during the first two years of the pandemic while inequality and poverty soared.
As millionaires, we know that the current tax system is not fair, says the letter circulated by groups including Patriotic Millionaires, Millionaires for Humanity, Tax me Now, and Oxfam.
Most of us can say that, while the world has gone through an immense amount of suffering in the last two years, we have actually seen our wealth rise during the pandemic -- yet few if any of us can honestly say that we pay our fair share in taxes.
The signatories include wealthy men and women from the United States, Canada, Germany, Britain, Denmark, Norway, Austria, the Netherlands and Iran.
The Patriotic Millionaires took part in a the wealth tax study with a network of non-profits and social movements, including Fight for Inequality Alliance, Oxfam and the US-based Institute for Policy Studies think tank.
In addition to funding vaccines worldwide and alleviating poverty, the tax would be enough to provide universal health care and social protection to 3.6 billion people in low- and middle-income countries, the group said.
The tax would be set at two percent for those worth over $5 million, three percent for over $50 million and five percent for over $1 billion.
- 'Realistic' tax -
The group said a steeper progressive tax, which includes a 10 percent levy on billionaires, would raise $3.62 trillion a year. The actual levels of taxation would be country specific.
Jenny Ricks, global convenor of the Fight Inequality Alliance, told AFP the group chose a lower progressive tax that was on the realistic side.
A plan to tax the wealth of some 700 American billionaires was floated by Democrats in the US Congress last year, but it was cut from President Joe Biden's $1.75 trillion social spending and climate change programme.
Wednesday's tax proposal was made as global government and business leaders take part in the virtual Davos meeting this week. The in-person gathering was postponed due to the spread of the Omicron variant.
There is no defending a system that endlessly inflates the wealth of the world's richest people while condemning billions to easily preventable poverty, Patriotic Millionaires chairman Morris Pearl, a former BlackRock investment firm managing director, said in a statement.
We need deep, systemic change, and that starts with taxing rich people like me, Morris said.