Oxfam stunt in Brussels, Belgium on the need to end tax havens.
In 2020, poverty increased for the first time in 25 years. Meanwhile, the richest have become even richer. Inequality is skyrocketing with the world facing multiple crises such as the Ukraine war, the energy crisis and the aftermaths of the pandemic. Despite this, some companies are reporting record profits and the super-rich are pocketing billions of euros, exploiting tax loopholes to avoid paying their fair share.
This inequality is not inevitable. It is a result of political decisions that can be reversed through the right policies.
The EU must build a fairer and more progressive tax system
We need a system that ensures the super-rich and big companies pay their fair share of the bill and do not profit from crises while ordinary people's pockets are hit.
Windfall taxes are vital to stop this inequality explosion
Money needs to be shifted from the big corporations and their wealthy shareholders to ordinary people grappling with rising expenses. The EU must up its ambition by calling for sector-wide and automatic windfall profit taxes.
The EU must intensify its efforts to end harmful tax practices, such as special favourable tax regimes for big multinational companies and special tax treatments for wealthy individuals. Many countries lose out on substantial revenue every year due to tax avoidance, which could otherwise be invested into public services proven to lessen inequality, such as healthcare and social protection.
The EU should work at an international level to create a fair tax system
This includes ending tax dodging and tax havens within and beyond Europe, stopping the race to the bottom in corporate taxation, improving tax transparency, and supporting tax negotiations at the UN level.
The EU should also promote more progressive taxation of individuals in EU countries, setting common rules to increase taxation on the very richest and introducing a European wealth tax.