Patriotic Millionaires UK Welcomes Gabriel Zucman’s Proposal for a Coordinated Minimum Tax on Billionaires

“Zucman’s report shows that a coordinated, international approach to taxing the super rich is the sensible and fair way to address the extreme concentration of wealth.

Addressing billionaire wealth should be viewed as the initial step; if we aim to safeguard democracy from the corrosive effects of extreme wealth, then multi-millionaires like me should also be prepared to pay more, and take pride in contributing their fair share.”

Today, the EU Tax Observatory, under the direction of world-renowned economist Gabriel Zucman, released a report which outlines how a coordinated minimum tax on ultra-high-net-worth individuals would work in practice.

The report was commissioned by the Brazilian G20 presidency following Zucman’s speech at the February 2024 meeting of G20 Finance Ministers in São Paulo, Brazil. The end proposal involves a minimum tax standard equal to 2% of the wealth of the world’s roughly 3,000 billionaires, with allowance for flexibility in domestic implementation, including options for lower thresholds. In their analysis, Zucman and his team found that, compared with increases in personal income taxes and estate taxes, only their proposed coordinated minimum tax could adequately address regressivity at the upper end of tax systems and deter capital flight.

A series of polls, commissioned by Patriotic Millionaires, shows consistent support from millionaires themselves for coordinated international action to tax the super rich, and for recommendations on a minimum tax standard of 2 percent. A recent poll of us British millionaires found that 64% support a minimum tax of 2 percent on billionaires. At the G20 level, 75% of millionaires polled support the introduction of a 2 percent tax on billionaires, with 69% supporting the same tax at the much lower threshold of $100 million.

Responding to the Zucman report, Phil White, former consultant and member of Patriotic Millionaires UK said:

“Zucman’s report shows that a coordinated, international approach to taxing the super rich is the sensible and fair way to address the extreme concentration of wealth. Addressing billionaire wealth should be viewed as the initial step; if we aim to safeguard democracy from the corrosive effects of extreme wealth, then multi-millionaires like me should also be prepared to pay more, and take pride in contributing their fair share.

This kind of international cooperation is long overdue and we commend Brazil as the G20 President for making this a priority. Today’s report offers a framework that accommodates different national tax systems and provides a common language for policymakers to best deliver this change. It’s time our global leaders caught up with public opinion on this. Failing to pursue international cooperation will result in a continued perpetual race-to-the-bottom that will only exacerbate the pervasive sense of decay in our democracy, our economy, and our day-to-day public services and infrastructure. Nowhere is this sense truer than in the UK.”

A recent hard-hitting IPPR report revealed that the UK lags behind G7 countries such as Japan, the USA, Germany, France, Italy, and Canada in public investment and has done so for three consecutive years. 

White continued: “As millionaires, we didn't get to where we are today by ignoring market conditions, and we don't think our national governments should do this either. It’s patently clear that the sluggish UK economy needs a reboot and international initiatives such as this can help get us there under more stable market conditions. At the end of the day, the sooner we can activate and unlock just a modest proportion of these most extreme concentrations of wealth, the sooner we can put it to work for a fairer economy and for our public services and infrastructure.”