For Immediate Release
Monday, May 20, 2024
Patriotic Millionaires Urge Secretary Yellen to Clarify Position on Global Minimum Tax on Billionaires
“If her concerns are simply about redistribution, she should clarify that ahead of her meetings later this week. But to reject the very idea of a global minimum tax on billionaires is to cede control of our economies and our democracies to oligarchs and plutocrats.”
WASHINGTON, DC – Today, The Wall Street Journal reported that, ahead of her meeting with G7 finance ministers later this week, US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen would oppose a proposal to institute a global minimum tax on billionaires as a project of the G20, specifically citing objections to those taxes being “redistributed in some way”.
In response, Morris Pearl, the Chair of the Patriotic Millionaires and a former managing director at BlackRock, Inc., released the following statement:
“We are mystified by Secretary Yellen’s comment suggesting she has rejected the G20 proposal for a global minimum tax on billionaires. Her comment is starkly at odds with President Biden’s stated goal of compelling billionaires to pay their fair share; it is at odds with the growing consensus on taxing the ultra-wealthy; and it is at odds with her own history of being a champion of international cooperation on tax matters.
Secretary Yellen’s statement seems to stem from concerns that the revenue from such a tax would be “redistributed.” However, the proposal would not institute a global tax that is then globally redistributed. The blueprint for this proposal is the OECD agreement for a global corporate minimum tax that she herself championed, which enables individual governments to determine how the taxes collected within their borders are spent.
If her concerns are simply about redistribution, she should clarify that ahead of her meetings later this week. But to reject the very idea of a global minimum tax on billionaires is to cede control of our economies and our democracies to oligarchs and plutocrats. In short, a wholesale surrender to the political influence of the ultra-rich would be a grave mistake.”
For additional information or interview requests, please contact Emily McCloskey at emily@pm-mig.test.
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