Un impôt européen sur les ultrariches pourrait rapporter plus de 200 milliards d’euros par an

Here is a well-supported report that comes at the right time. Two weeks after the launch, during the G20 summit in New Delhi, a wide call from economists and politicians to tax the ultra-rich in the name of tax justice – co-signed by 139 American and British millionaires ready to contribute immediately – the Green-European Free Alliance group in the European Parliament publicly releases a study on Wednesday, September 20, urging to move “from slogan to reality”.

“The Green Party questions why other members of the European Union wouldn’t follow Spain’s lead in implementing a temporary and progressive wealth tax. They refer to the ‘solidarity tax’ introduced by the socialist government of Pedro Sanchez in early 2023, which will be in effect for two years.”

Cette étude, réalisée par l’ONG Tax Justice Network à partir de données sur les revenus, le patrimoine et les inégalités, de statistiques de l’Organisation de coopération et de développement économiques (OCDE) et de travaux d’économistes, tels Gabriel Zucman et Emmanuel Saez, évalue « le potentiel lié à la mise en place d’un impôt sur la fortune », ainsi qu’à « l’éradication des abus fiscaux des superriches ». Elle livre ces chiffres chocs : un impôt sur la fortune (ISF) « modéré et progressif, centré sur les 0,5 % les plus riches » de chaque Etat européen rapporterait chaque année plus de 213 milliards d’euros de recettes fiscales supplémentaires dans les caisses publiques. A lui seul, ce « top 0,5 % » détient près de 20 % de la richesse européenne, contre 3,5 % pour la moitié de la population la moins riche, rappellent les Verts. Leur patrimoine s’est accru de 35 % en dix ans.

1,35 % du PIB cumulé des Vingt-Sept

Germany and France, in particular, would have a lot to gain from the implementation of such a tax on the wealthiest individuals, amounting to 65.1 billion euros and 46.1 billion euros respectively. Additionally, the entire Southern Europe, including Italy (with 27.2 billion euros), Portugal (3.7 billion euros), and Greece (1.4 billion euros), would also benefit. Unlike the tax voted in Spain or the French real estate wealth tax (IFI), the tax proposed by the Greens would apply to all assets (real estate, bank deposits, company shares, artworks, etc.).

Unprecedented at the European level, this estimation is quite remarkable. These tax revenues would represent 1.35% of the cumulative Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the Twenty-Seven, without even taking into account possible progress in the fight against tax optimization by the wealthy in tax havens, which the Greens are calling to strengthen. An amount equivalent to a check of 1,083 euros per European household, which would constitute the promise of significant redistribution of national wealth among the States.

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