New polls show that Canadians would like a wealth tax on multimillionaires to help pay for the pandemic recovery and reduce growing inequality.
About half the population of Canada, 20 million people, are living paycheque to paycheque, while 87 families own over $259 billion, and that’s over half the country’s wealth.
Canada’s Richest Families Own
as Much Wealth as 3 Provinces
Combined: Report
By Erica Alini, Global News, July 30, 2018
https://globalnews.ca/news/4360299/wealth-inequality-canada
Fewer than 90 families in Canada hold roughly as much wealth as what everyone living in Newfoundland and Labrador, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island collectively owns.
Canada’s Richest 44 People
Got $53 Billion Wealthier
Since The Pandemic: Report
David Thomson, chairman of Thomson Reuters, speaks with journalists at Thomson Reuters Headquarters in New York, March 5, 2014. The Thomson family, estimated to be Canada’s richest, has seen its wealth grow by more than $10 billion since April, according to a new report.
By Daniel Tencer, HuffPost, November 26th, 2020
https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/entry/inequality-canada-wealth-tax_ca_5fbfcac9c5b68ca87f825864
The idea that Canada’s economic inequality problem isn’t as bad as the U.S.’s is a “convenient fiction,” says a new report calling for a wealth tax on multi-millionaires.
Canada’s richest one per cent have seen their share of the country’s wealth grow while all other groups have seen theirs shrink, said the report from Canadians for Tax Fairness.
Budget 2021 (in the United Kingdom):
Tax on Company Profits to Rise to 25%
Small firms with profits under £50,000 will escape the rise.
BBC News, March 3, 2021
https://www.bbc.com/news/business-56267284
The rate of corporation tax, paid on company profits, is to rise to 25% from 19%, starting in 2023 in the United Kingdom.
Chancellor Rishi Sunak said it was “fair and necessary” for business to contribute to the economic recovery.
But he also unveiled a “small profits rate” to benefit small firms, and extra tax breaks to spur investment.
Spain to Increase Income and Wealth Tax
By Cristian Angeloni, International Advisor, November 10th, 2020
https://international-adviser.com/spain-to-increase-income-and-wealth-tax
The Spanish government has set out plans to raise taxes in its National Budget Bill.
The measure will impact personal income and wealth taxes, as well as some additions to gifting and inheritance rules from 1 January 2021.
The main changes affect the country’s top earners, meaning that ultra- and high net worth (HNW) individuals will be the ones taking the hit.
For those whose employment-related income exceeds €300,000 (£270,290, $355,841) a year, taxation will rise by two percentage points to 47%, law firm Baker McKenzie explains.
But the ultimate maximum rate is set by each region – also knows as autonomous community. For instance, in Catalonia this will be set at 50%, while in Madrid the rate is 45.5%.
Argentina to Hit the Rich
With Wealth Tax as Covid-19 Costs Rise
Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner at the Congress in Buenos Aires on Dec. 4.
Photographer: Juan Mabromata/AFP/Getty Images
By Sebastian Boyd, Bloomberg Wealth, December 5, 2020
Argentina’s Senate late Friday approved a proposed one-time wealth tax, which seeks to boost government revenue by targeting millionaires with assets of more than 200 million pesos ($2.4 million).
The legislation, which had already passed the lower house, was promoted by the governing coalition and spearheaded by lawmakers Carlos Heller and Maximo Kirchner, son of Vice President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner. It seeks to plug a gap caused by a plunge in government revenue due to the strict lockdown authorities imposed to fight the pandemic — with limited success.
“This is a unique, one-time contribution,” said Senator Carlos Caserio, a member of the committee responsible for the bill, according to a statement on the Senate’s website. “We’re coming out of this pandemic like countries come out of world wars, with thousands of dead and devastated economies.”
The law will target between 1% and 3% of a taxpayer’s wealth, Caserio said. It specifies a 50% surcharge for money stashed abroad. More than 500 Argentines took up tax residency abroad this year, almost half of them in Uruguay, which has been more effective in controlling the coronavirus pandemic. Non-resident deposits in Uruguayan banks have risen by at least $500 million since it became clear last year that the coalition led by President Alberto Fernandez would take power in Argentina.