Close to 20 former heads of state and government of G20 and higher-income countries, including former Prime Minister of
New Zealand Helen Clark, former President of Chile Michelle Bachelet, former Prime Minister of Sweden Stefan Löfven,
former Prime Minister of Australia Julia Gilliard, former Prime Minister of France Dominique de Villepin and former
President of Spain José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, called on current G20 leaders -including US President Joe Biden, German
Chancellor Olaf Scholz and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer- to support a "new global deal to tax the world’s ultra-rich
individuals" in an open letter published today.
Ensuring the ultra-rich pay their fair share "would reduce inequality and raise trillions of dollars necessary for
investments in industrial policy and a just transition."
The former leaders state in the letter that "Brazil’s G20 proposal underlines the opportunity to write a new story about
taxation for the first time in a generation" at a time when "billionaires, globally, are paying a tax rate equivalent to
less than 0.5 percent of their wealth."
The Brazilian government, in its presidency of the G20, is championing a new global tax standard on taxing the
ultra-rich. The letter by former heads of state and government of G20 countries comes alongside talks across G20
capitals to back the deal, and ahead of a meeting of G20 finance ministersand central bankers in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil,
on 25 July. Governments including Brazil, South Africa, France and Spain have already voiced their support. The leaders
write: "rare is a proposal that asks us as former leaders to rally in unity -and that we recognize as politically
possible. This, clearly, is one."
Helen Clark, former Prime Minister of New Zealand and Member of Club de Madrid, said: "Brazil is to be commended for
bringing the issue of a global tax standard on the world’s billionaires to the G20 table. This builds on an earlier G20
decision to support a global minimum tax of fifteen per cent on multinational companies. The latter initiative took
years to come to fruition. Both initiatives build global cooperation to tackle tax avoidance."
The letter, which was coordinated by Club de Madrid and Oxfam, warns that "the share of income of the top 1 percent of
earners has risen by 45 percent over four decades while top tax rates on their incomes were cut by roughly a third."