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PERSPECTIVE

The rich don’t need to beg for more tax; they can just pay it

Patriotic millionaires want the wealthy to be taxed more. But there are better ways to give money to the state. 

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    • Austrian Marlene Engelhorn, from the family that owns Germany's chemical giant BASF, speaks as she holds a placard reading "Tax the rich!" at the entrance of the Congress Centre on the opening day of the WEF on Jan 15, 2024.
    • The alpine resort of Davos, where the annual WEF is held. A group of 260 "patriotic millionaires" have called on politicians to enact more taxes for the rich.
    • Austrian Marlene Engelhorn, from the family that owns Germany's chemical giant BASF, speaks as she holds a placard reading "Tax the rich!" at the entrance of the Congress Centre on the opening day of the WEF on Jan 15, 2024. PHOTO: AFP
    • The alpine resort of Davos, where the annual WEF is held. A group of 260 "patriotic millionaires" have called on politicians to enact more taxes for the rich. PHOTO: AFP

    Merryn Somerset Webb

    Published Fri, Jan 26, 2024 · 03:57 PM

    LAST week at Davos, a group of self-declared rich people demanded that elected politicians force them to pay more tax. The “patriotic millionaires” group announced in a letter, signed by 260 of them, that they would be “proud to pay more” if it were to make for better societies. They also insisted that they were not alone in wanting to pay more. Far from it.

    Surveys done by the group showed that 75 per cent of those who responded supported a 2 per cent annual tax on the wealth of billionaires, and 58 per cent supported the same on those with more than US$10 million in assets.

    I’m not sure any of them have thought this through properly. That’s because all taxes creep.

    BillionairesWealth taxDavosPerspective

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