Wealth tax

Today, the European Commission presented its proposal for new sources of revenue for the EU’s budget.  

Pressure is piling on the G20 to lead a global push to increase taxes on the richest citizens back to past levels that most people believe were fairer and more useful for society. 

A group of economists, activists, politicians and millionaires from seven countries across Europe today registered a ‘European Citizens’ Initiative’ (ECI) calling on the European Union (EU) to adopt a permanent annual wealth tax on Europe’s biggest fortunes to raise revenue to reduce poverty and inequality both at home and in poorer countries, and to tackle the climate crisis.

The European Parliament voted on the report "Own resources: a fresh start for the EU Finances, a new start for Europe". The ONE Campaign, Oxfam, ActionAid and Global Citizen are campaigning for any new own resources to be used to increase the EU’s external action budget to deliver on the EU’s promises on global development and climate action.

Today the European Parliament  Committee on Budgets voted on the Committee's own initiative report on new own resources to finance the EU budget and EU political priorities.

The richest 1 percent grabbed nearly two-thirds of all new wealth worth $42 trillion created since 2020, almost twice as much money as the bottom 99 percent of the world’s population, reveals a new Oxfam report today. During the past decade, the richest 1 percent had captured around half of all new wealth. 

Rich and poor countries alike have exacerbated an explosion of economic inequality since the outbreak of the pandemic from 2020, reveals new research by Oxfam and Development Finance International (DFI). 

For every new billionaire created during the pandemic — one every 30 hours — nearly a million people could be pushed into extreme poverty in 2022 at nearly the same rate, reveals a new Oxfam brief today. “Profiting from Pain” is published as the World Economic Forum — the exclusive get-together of the global elite in Davos — takes place for the first time face-to-face since COVID-19, a period during which billionaires have enjoyed a huge boost to their fortunes. 

Over a quarter of a billion more people could crash into extreme levels of poverty in 2022 because of COVID-19, rising global inequality and the shock of food price rises supercharged by the war in Ukraine, reveals a new Oxfam brief today. 

A group of over 100 millionaires and billionaires from nine countries published today an open letter to government and business leaders, calling for permanent annual wealth taxes on the very richest to help reduce extreme inequality and raise revenue for sustained, long-term increases in public services like healthcare.