Tax the Rich, and Don't Be Shy About It thetyee.ca - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from thetyee.ca Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Last modified on Sat 12 Jun 2021 12.05 EDT
The revelation last week that the 25 richest US billionaires have paid very little tax even as their fortunes have soared has reignited demands for wealth taxes on both sides of the Atlantic. An unprecedented leak of âa vast troveâ of 15 years of Internal Revenue Service (IRS) data to the investigative news site ProPublica has provided a staggering insight into the legal strategies the very rich deploy to avoid tax.
It discovered that Jeff Bezos â founder of Amazon and worldâs richest person, with a $193bn (£136bn) fortune â paid no federal taxes in 2011 and even claimed $4,000 in tax credit for his children.
Few things are more divided than the “Inheritance Tax” for the readers of the Financial Times. In some cases, taxation is unfair-a punishment for hard-working parents who wish to transfer their property to their children. For other people, taxes are ineffective, because the rich avoid taxes and get unfair opportunities, giving future generations a huge advantage in life.
The Covid-19 pandemic has brought new power to this debate, and it is necessary To increase taxes Once security is restored, public finances can be strengthened. Right now, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is playing cards near his chest and may collect any such taxes, but many experts suggest that you consider levying wealth taxes, including IHT.
Joe Biden is a US president in a hurry. His effort to put the federal government back at the centre of national affairs is drawing comparisons with Franklin D Roosevelt s New Deal .
It includes climate change funding and money to fight racial inequality.
The latest bill has echoes of the Big Society, with its focus on bettering the lives of families and young people with subsidised child care, free nurseries and free community college education.
A sting in the tail of the latest package is that the focus is on taxing the wealthy.
If Biden is successful there could be some encouragement for Rishi Sunak to head in similar directions as he addresses the UK’s £2trillion-plus debt mountain. Certainly, it could provide fodder for Keir Starmer.
The main element of Biden’s soak-the-rich plan is a rise in income tax for households earning more than $400,000 a year from 37 per cent to 39.6 per cent (where it would still be well below the UK’s 45 per cent top rate).