What will be India’s position at G20 on proposal of ‘billionaire tax’: Congress asks govt

PTI, Sep 9, 2024, 10:48 AM IST

Representative image (Source: PTI)

New Delhi: The Congress on Monday asked the government to spell out what will be India’s position on Brazil’s proposal of a two per cent wealth tax on dollar billionaires when it is debated at the November G20 Summit.

Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh said India has been conspicuously silent on the matter which is not irrelevant for it since according to one new report, the country has 334 dollar billionaires worth over USD one billion.

“Exactly a year ago, the annual G20 Summit began in New Delhi. The Presidency of the G20 rotates among its member countries every year. Two months from now the next G20 Summit will take place in Brazil, which has chosen to not create the hype and self-glorifying publicity like the non-biological PM did,” Ramesh said in a post on X.

“And what a difference a year has made. In September 2023 He was riding super high. Now he is still reeling from his personal, political, and moral defeat of June 4 2024,” the Congress leader said.

For the November 2024 summit, Brazil has floated a proposal for a two per cent wealth tax on dollar billionaires, he said.

“This proposal has been supported already by France, Spain, South Africa, and Germany. India has been conspicuously silent on it. What will be our country’s position on this proposal when it is debated?” Ramesh said.

It is not irrelevant for us since according to one new report India has 334 dollar billionaires worth over one billion dollars, he said.

Brazil’s G20 presidency has put the proposal on the table.

Commissioned by the Brazilian G20 presidency, the report ‘A Blueprint for a Coordinated Minimum Effective Taxation Standard for Ultra-High-Net-Worth Individuals’ had said, “a minimum tax on billionaires equal to two per cent of their wealth would raise USD 200-250 billion per year globally from about 3,000 taxpayers.” These revenues would be collected from economic actors who are both very wealthy and undertaxed today, the report prepared by French economist Gabriel Zucman had said.