- The EU Tax Observatory’s study reveals that the world’s wealthiest 3,000 individuals are exploiting legal grey areas by utilising shell companies to evade income tax, with effective tax rates as low as 0%-0.6% of their total wealth.
- Holding companies specifically created to avoid income tax are a focal point of the study, highlighting their position on the border between tax avoidance and tax evasion, potentially undermining the social acceptance of current tax systems.
- The use of shell companies extends to the ownership of luxury properties in expensive cities, allowing the wealthy to remain anonymous while avoiding or evading taxes.
- The EU Tax Observatory is advocating for a global minimum annual tax of 2% on the wealth of the world’s richest people, a measure inspired by the 2021 agreement on a 15% global minimum tax rate for multinational corporations.
- Nobel laureate Joseph Stiglitz supports the proposal, emphasising the potential benefits of such a tax in funding essential services, addressing crises, and preventing tax avoidance by the wealthy. The study also warns about the impact of green energy subsidies on tax revenues and inequality.
