For Immediate Release
Tuesday, January 16, 2024
Media Contacts:
Emily McCloskey (emily@patrioticmillionaires.
Lara Wade (larawade@gmail.com)
NEW POLL: Almost three-quarters of millionaires in G20 countries support higher taxes on wealth; over half think extreme wealth is a “threat to democracy”
Polling comes as 260 millionaires and billionaires sign letter directed at political leaders attending World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos, Switzerland saying they would be “Proud To Pay More” in taxes; signers include Brian Cox and Abigail Disney
Davos, Switzerland – A shocking new poll has revealed that support for higher taxes on wealth is popular with millionaires across G20 countries. It comes as 260 millionaires and billionaires have signed a letter demanding world leaders increase their taxes, coinciding with the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting taking place from January 15th-19th in Davos, Switzerland. The polling is part of the Proud to Pay More report, which is being published alongside the letter, profiling some of the world’s wealthiest people and explaining why they support higher taxes on themselves.
The survey, conducted by Survation on behalf of Patriotic Millionaires, polled over 2,300 respondents from G20 countries who hold more than $1 million in investable assets, excluding their homes – making them the richest five percent (or even higher in their respective countries).
Key findings include:
- 75 percent support the introduction of a 2 percent wealth tax on billionaires
- 58 percent support the introduction of a 2 percent wealth tax for people with more than $10 million
- 54 percent think that extreme wealth is a threat to democracy
- 74 percent support higher taxes on wealth to help address the cost of living crisis and improve public services
- 72 percent think that extreme wealth helps buy political influence
- 70 percent think the economy would be stronger if we increased taxes on extreme wealth to invest in public services and national infrastructure
- 66 percent of people with $1 million or more would support higher taxes on themselves if they were used to invest in public services and stronger national infrastructure
- 57 percent believe that extreme wealth prevents others from improving their living standards and hinders social mobility
- 53 percent think that extreme wealth exacerbates climate change
“We are living in a second Gilded Age,” said Emmy and Golden Globe-winning actor Brian Cox, who played fictional billionaire Logan Roy in HBO’s Succession. “Billionaires are wielding their extreme wealth to accumulate political power and influence, simultaneously undermining democracy and the global economy. It’s long past time to act. If our elected officials refuse to address this concentration of money and power, the consequences will be dire.”
“Throughout history, pitchforks were the inevitable consequence of extreme discontent, but today, the masses are turning to populism, which is on the rise throughout the world. It is happening here,” said Abigail Disney, documentary filmmaker, activist, and member of the Disney family. “We already know the solution to protect our institutions and stabilize our country: it’s taxing extreme wealth. What we lack is the political fortitude to do it. Even millionaires and billionaires like me are saying it’s time. The elites gathering in Davos must take this crisis seriously.”
In a year of national elections across a number of G20 countries, the poll not only showed respondents from the richest 5 percent support higher taxation on wealth, but that they’re also concerned extreme wealth concentration is a threat to democracy itself. This fear is reflected in the letter, Proud to Pay More, which states, “If elected representatives of the world’s leading economies do not take steps to address the dramatic rise of economic inequality, the consequences will continue to be catastrophic for society.”
Millionaires and billionaires spanning 17 countries – including Abigail Disney, Richard Curtis, Simon Pegg, Brian Cox, Valerie Rockefeller, Marlene Engelhorn, and Guy Singh-Watson – signed the letter in a growing global effort to wake up world leaders about the need to tax the super-rich. As Brazil takes on the G20 Presidency in 2024, President Lula has committed to adding global tax mechanisms to the agenda. This demonstrates that the push by the super-rich to tax themselves is having an impact.
Guy Singh-Watson, British farmer, entrepreneur, and member of Patriotic Millionaires UK said: “This poll seems to show that the whole world, including the richest people, wants to tax the super-rich. So where on Earth is the leadership from our elected representatives who have the power to actually do it? We, the very richest, are sick and tired of inaction, so it’s hardly surprising that working people, at the sharp end of our rigged economies, have lost all patience.”
Marlene Engelhorn, Austrian inheritor and co-founder of taxmenow said: “2024 could be the beginning of real change if the G20 got serious about raising more taxes from people like me. With rising populism and seam-bursting wealth walking hand in hand, we cannot afford another year of economic neglect without further peril to democracy. The Brazilian G20 can help fix this if it leads global efforts to tax us, the super-rich.”
Millionaires, including Marlene Engelhorn and Stefanie Bremer, will be in Davos to hand over the letter to amplify its essential message: “The true measure of a society can be found, not just in how it treats its most vulnerable, but in what it asks of its wealthiest members. Our future is one of tax pride, or economic shame. That’s the choice.”
Proud To Pay More is a campaign by Patriotic Millionaires, Patriotic Millionaires UK, taxmenow, Millionaires For Humanity, and Oxfam.
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