At the end of the first day of the 3rd meeting of Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors of the G20, Finance Minister Fernando Haddad shared information involving the approved declaration on global taxation. The final text will only be released at the end of the event this Friday (26), but the minister said that it will include an acknowledgement that it is necessary to deepen discussions on the taxation of the super-rich.
According to him, the topic is now included in the international agenda.
“We were extremely pleased with the support that Brazil received. Practically all G20 participants made a point of emphasizing the leadership of Brazil’s G20 presidency. Obviously there are concerns and reservations. There are preferences for other solutions, but in the end we all agreed that it was necessary to include this proposal as one that deserves due attention,” he said.
Taxing the super-rich is a priority agenda for the Brazilian presidency of the G20. Brazil advocates that countries coordinate the adoption of a minimum tax of 2%. However, there is resistance. The US Treasury Secretary, Janet Yellen, for example, has said that she does not see the need for a global pact and that each government should address the issue internally. Even so, she has expressed support for a more progressive tax system that ensures that high-income individuals pay a fair amount.
According to Haddad, without global coordination, countries end up getting involved in a tax war. He believes that including mention of the Brazilian proposal in the final declaration is an achievement that overcomes skepticism about the impossibility of reaching a consensus. “Obviously, it is important to emphasize that these processes are relatively slow on the international agenda. Building a better world is hard work. If it weren’t, we would already have a much more pleasant world than the current one,” he said.
He insisted that this was a victory that should not be underestimated. “It is an achievement from an ethical point of view. Ethics are very important in politics. Seeking justice is very important in politics. The 20 richest countries in the world having agreed to address an issue proposed by Brazil is something of an ethical nature that needs to be valued. It is no small feat, even if it will still require significant intellectual efforts to make it a reality.”
The minister said that discussions on tax issues must take into account global challenges such as inequality, hunger and climate issues, which will require innovative solutions. “We are trying to anticipate this by starting to develop financing instruments that can be used when the need arises.”
Earlier, in a speech to the other participants of the event, Haddad had already said that the statement that was being drafted would be historic . “Thanks to our collective political will, this G20 will be remembered as the starting point for a new global dialogue on tax justice. This progress in the debate was achieved through an open and transparent exchange of ideas.”
The world’s 19 largest economies, as well as the European Union and, more recently, the African Union, have seats in the G20. The group has established itself as a global forum for dialogue and coordination on economic, social, development and international cooperation issues. In December of last year, Brazil succeeded India as president. This is the first time that the country has held this position in the current G20 format, established in 2008. At the end of the year, Rio de Janeiro will host the G20 Summit, and the presidency of the group will be transferred to South Africa.
