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	Small global billionaire tax could yield $250 billion annually by EU Tax Observatory, agencies   Oct. 2023   Small global billionaire tax could yield $250 billion annually, reports the EU Tax Observatory   Governments should clampdown on tax evasion by billionaires by introducing a global minimum wealth tax which could raise $250 billion annually, the EU Tax Observatory said on Monday.   If levied, the sum would be equivalent to only 2% of the nearly $13 trillion in wealth owned by the 2,700 billionaires globally, the research group hosted at the Paris School of Economics said.   Currently billionaires' effective personal tax is often far less than what other taxpayers of more modest means pay because they can park wealth in shell companies sheltering them from income tax, the group said in its 2024 Global Tax Evasion Report.   "In our view, this is difficult to justify because it undermines the sustainability of tax systems and the social acceptability of taxation," the observatory's director Gabriel Zucman told journalists.   Billionaires have been operating on the “border of legality” in using shell companies to avoid tax and the world’s wealthiest individuals should be charged a 2% levy on their wealth, the report states.   Billionaires have been pushing the limits of the law by moving certain types of income, including dividends from company shares, through dedicated holding companies that usually serve no other purpose.   “These holding companies are in a grey zone between avoidance and evasion,” the report said. “To the extent that they are created with the purpose of avoiding the income tax, they can legitimately be seen as closer to evasion.”   These types of loopholes allow the super-rich to avoid certain forms of income tax, resulting in effective tax rates worth just 0%-0.6% of their total wealth, the report found. Billionaires' personal tax in the United States is estimated to be close to just 0.5% and as low as zero in France, the Observatory estimated.   Shell companies can also stand in as nominal owners for luxury properties in expensive cities such as London. “Real estate continues to provide ample opportunities for the rich to avoid and evade taxes,” the report said.   The shell companies also fall outside the tools that have so far been used to combat tax avoidance, including the automatic exchange of banking information, which is followed by more than 100 countries.   “To date no serious attempt has been made to address this situation, which risks undermining the social acceptability of existing tax systems,” the report said.   The Observatory, which deployed more than 100 researchers to gather the report’s data, is calling on global leaders to use the next G20 summit in Brazil in November 2024 to launch talks over a global minimum 2% annual tax to be levied on the wealth – rather than the income – of the world’s richest people.   The idea is based on the 2021 agreement between 140 countries and territories to impose a global minimum tax rate of 15% on the biggest multinational companies.   Zucman said: “This is the logical next step after the global minimum tax on multinational companies – which demonstrates that it is possible for countries to agree on minimum tax rates.”   He said minimum rates were the most powerful tools to address loopholes in existing tax systems because they ensure that no matter what the avoidance measures used, the tax collected cannot fall below a set amount.   The reform is far from perfect. The search for a broad consensus led to the application of a relatively low global tax rate (rather than a base rate of 25% many recommended), accompanied by numerous exemptions that limit its scope.   Commenting on the report, Nobel prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz said: “Tax evasion, and, more broadly, tax avoidance, is not inevitable; it is the result of policy choices – or the failure to make policy choices that act to stop it.”   He said that a billionaire’s tax would help governments fund important services such as education, infrastructure and technology, and soften the blow of oncoming crises, including future pandemics, and those linked to extreme weather events as a result of the climate crisis.   “So many people struggle to make ends meet yet pay the taxes their governments ask of them,” Stiglitz said. “We need to make sure those at the top of the income ladder who certainly have the financial means don’t wriggle out of them.”   The Observatory also warned about other looming risks for tax revenues, including in the area of green energy subsidies. The report explained that a race for green energy producers was resulting in much larger tax exemptions that could more than offset the gains made by the newly enforced modest 15% minimum corporate tax rate. While it has the potential to accelerate a country’s transition to zero-carbon emissions, the Observatory said it raises some of the same issues as standard tax competition.   “It depletes government revenues, and if not accompanied by egalitarian measures, it risks increasing inequality by boosting the after-tax profits of shareholders, who tend to be towards the top of the income distribution.”   In the absence of a broad international agreement for a minimum tax on billionaires, Zucman said a “coalition of willing countries” could unilaterally lead the way.   http://www.taxobservatory.eu/publication/global-tax-evasion-report-2024/ http://www.lemonde.fr/en/opinion/article/2023/10/23/keeping-up-the-pressure-to-combat-tax-evasion_6197046_23.html http://taxjustice.net/2023/10/17/joint-statement-organisations-applaud-un-committees-work-on-net-wealth-taxes/ http://taxjustice.net/press/world-to-lose-4-7-trillion-to-tax-havens-over-next-decade-unless-un-tax-convention-adopted-countries-warned/ http://taxjustice.net/reports/the-state-of-tax-justice-2023/ http://policy-practice.oxfam.org/resources/survival-of-the-richest-how-we-must-tax-the-super-rich-now-to-fight-inequality-621477/ http://www.icij.org/tags/tax-havens/ http://factipanel.org/press-release/un-panel-end-financial-abuses-to-save-people-and-planet.html Visit the related web page
	Decent Work and Social Protection for All by Aye Aye Win, Olivier De Schutter ADT Fourth World, OHCHR, Coalition for Social Protection Floors, agencies   Oct. 2023   Dignity in Practice for All, by Aye Aye Win, President of the International Committee for October 17, Co-Founder Dignity International, ADT Fourth World   On October 17, we will commemorate the United Nations International Day for the Eradication of Poverty – a day to honour the millions of people enduring the silent and sustained violence of poverty. For 2023, we are highlighting “Decent Work and Social Protection” as drivers in achieving dignity in practice.   The right to work has been promised to all of us in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and reaffirmed in binding international human rights law as well as in Agenda 2030 – the global goals of the United Nations.   Yet the reality of decent work and social protection, particularly for people living in extreme poverty, is far from the promise.   Many people in poverty work in the informal economy – unregistered, unrecognised and unprotected under labour legislation facing difficult and dangerous conditions every day.   The most excluded have no choice but to accept unacceptable situations and are often seen and treated as ‘disposable’.   Despite working long hours and often holding multiple jobs, they are unable to earn enough to support themselves and their families.   The most excluded perform useful jobs, for example they have been the trendsetters in repair, reuse and recycle – decades before the ‘circular or the green economy’ concept became popular.   Despite their economic, social and environmental contribution, their work is not recognised or dismissed by society.   Women, who form a majority of the informal labour force are likely to be the lowest paid, most marginalised and more susceptible to harassment at work.   Again, despite women’s work contributing to the family, the society and the larger economy, the care and household work is unrecognised, unpaid, undervalued and left out of policy agendas.   Over the next decade, one billion young people will try to enter the job market, but for most of them, the prospect of finding decent work is grim.   To build a brighter future for the young, for the people left behind, for all of us, we call for decent work – one that offers a fair wage, a living wage in safe working conditions.   Decent work, that unleashes the potential of the circular economy, work that can be found in disinvested neighbourhoods where the most excluded live.   Decent work that enables control over income earned and transforms unequal power relations in the workplace. Work that addresses the hidden dimensions of poverty, one that promotes cohesion by inviting excluded individuals back into public life.   Decent work that provides income security so that people can confidently plan their future and lift themselves out of persistent poverty and allows for a life in dignity.   A right to income security   Life’s journey is full of uncertainties and everyone, including those outside the labour force – the children, the elderly and the people who are not able to work, have a right to income security, to be protected against risks to their well-being.   There’s so much wealth in this world and it’s only a matter of making the right policy choices to ensure Universal Social Protection becomes a reality.   In designing social protection schemes, we must do so, not in the fancy offices of the ministers or policy makers but in the homes, communities and disinvested neighbourhoods of the rights holders, with their full involvement, so that funds are not wasted in complex administrative practices but effectively reach where they are most needed.   October 17 shines as a ray of hope, a day for the furthest behind to take their rightful place as first priority in policy decisions, a day to remind us to use human dignity as our compass in all decision making, a day to join hands and pledge to work together to achieve dignity in practice for everyone.   * 61% of all workers are informally employed. Over 2 billion workers worldwide.   http://www.atd-fourthworld.org/dignity-in-practice-for-all/ http://www.wiego.org/informal-economy/poverty-growth-linkages http://www.endchildhoodpoverty.org/publications-feed/2020/8/31/joint-statement-6ef3m http://www.endchildhoodpoverty.org/publications-feed/climatechange http://www.chronicpovertynetwork.org/blog/2023/10/12/forging-renewed-commitments-towards-eradicating-extreme-poverty   Oct. 2023   What a ‘living wage’ really means in today’s cost-of-living crisis, by Olivier De Schutter - UN Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights.   The link between being employed and escaping poverty is not as straightforward as one would hope. Low wages are keeping one in five workers trapped in poverty across the globe. In Africa, nearly 55 per cent of workers live in poverty, 6.3 million people are classified as ‘working poor’ in the United States, and 8.5 per cent of workers are considered ‘at risk of poverty’ in the European Union. In other words, having a job is not the route out of poverty it once was.   A global cost-of-living crisis has aggravated the situation further. While annual inflation reached its highest-ever level in the EU in 2022, more than tripling to 9.2 per cent, wages lagged far behind, increasing by just 4.4 per cent. A similar picture has emerged across other world regions, stretching workers’ poverty wages beyond the breaking point. Globally, wages fell in real terms by 0.9 per cent in the first half of 2022: the first negative global wage growth this century. The world’s workers are facing a purchasing power crisis of unprecedented proportions.   Minimum wages – the legal minimum a worker can be paid – are in place in more than 90 per cent of the International Labour Organisation’s (ILO) 187 member countries. An encouraging statistic, but behind lurk a number of major challenges.   In the United States, to take just one example, the federal minimum wage is $7.25 per hour. This was last updated in 2009 and is not automatically adjusted for inflation. As a result, the US offers some of the lowest wages in the industrialised world, and workers with a high school diploma actually made 2.7 per cent less in 2017 than they would have in 1979 when adjusted for inflation.   But the US is not an exception. Worryingly, failing to update the minimum wage is common practice. And even when minimum wages are increased, they are often still insufficient to keep up with the soaring cost of living. A recent ILO assessment covering 10 countries showed that, while most increased the cash minimum wage between 2015 and 2022, in eight of them, inflation meant that the real minimum wage was worth less by 2022 than it had been in 2015.   Even when minimum wages are in place, and even when they are regularly updated, countless workers miss out either due to poor enforcement by labour inspectorates or de facto exclusion from minimum wage regulations, such as is the case for informal workers, domestic workers, agricultural workers, home-based workers and undocumented migrant workers, amongst others.   The answer can seem frustratingly simple. For work to lift people out of poverty, all workers – no matter their status – must be paid enough to cover their basic needs. This is the thinking behind the idea of a ‘living wage’ — one that is adjusted in line with the cost of living to guarantee all workers a decent life for themselves and their families, meaning being able to meet the costs of necessities such as food, housing and sanitation (as stipulated under international human rights law).   While this approach has gained wide acceptance, it has a major weakness: it is based on an absolute rather than a relative understanding of poverty. Yet, even workers who can afford to eat and have a roof over their heads will remain in poverty if they experience the shame and stigma that comes from failing to meet certain social expectations.   The world is changing quickly, and in all but the poorest countries today, you are considered poor when you cannot afford a mobile phone; when you have no access to the internet; when you cannot organise a decent funeral for your parents or a wedding for your children. None of these things are necessarily covered by a living wage, but without them, people in poverty continue to face relentless discrimination and social exclusion – a phenomenon known as ‘povertyism’ – that keep them trapped in poverty.   Later this month at the United Nations General Assembly in New York (20 October), I will be urging governments to set the minimum wage at a level that allows the worker and their family to achieve a decent standard of living or corresponds to at least 60 per cent of the median wage in the country — whichever is highest.   A proper wage legislation also needs to protect all workers, regardless of whether they are employed on a full-time, part-time or informal basis, or whether they work at home, in the private home of their employer or through an online platform. This is not only achievable but would profoundly reset the relationship between employment and poverty reduction. Having a paid job should, and can, guarantee an escape from poverty.   http://www.ips-journal.eu/topics/future-of-social-democracy/what-a-living-wage-really-means-in-todays-cost-of-living-crisis-7059/ http://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2023/10/amazon-doordash-and-walmart-are-trapping-workers-poverty-un-poverty-expert http://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2023/10/wages-should-reflect-contribution-society-not-just-ability-generate-profit http://www.openglobalrights.org/millions-us-workers-poverty-human-rights-violation/ http://undocs.org/Home/Mobile?FinalSymbol=A/78/175 http://www.srpoverty.org/   Oct. 2023   Fulfilling the right to social security for all - Global Coalition for Social Protection Floors   Governments and international financial institutions should make a commitment to create social security systems that enable everyone to realize their rights, 43 human rights and economic justice organizations said today. Governments and financial institutions should end policies that have been failing millions of people.   “Amid mounting poverty and soaring inequality, where millions grapple daily to realize their economic, social and cultural rights, we cannot afford to maintain social security approaches that have been shown to fail rights,” said Tirana Hassan, Executive Director of Human Rights Watch. “Governments and international financial institutions have an opportunity to course-correct and adopt a rights-aligned approach to social security that sets the tone and leads the way toward more just societies and economies.”   Social security is one of the cornerstones of human rights, sustainable economies, and just societies. It is enshrined in numerous legally binding international treaties and is provided through a set of public policies and programs often known as social protection.   These programs ensure income security throughout an individual's life, offering support during life events such as childbirth, old age, illness, disability, unemployment, and circumstances such as climate disasters that elevate the risk of income insecurity, such as the earthquake that recently shook Morocco.   “The right to social protection for all is enshrined in the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights and yet, 75 years later, global social protection falls shamefully short, with more than half of the global population lacking basic coverage, violating human rights,” said Luc Triangle, Acting General Secretary of the International Trade Union Confederation. Triangle said:   "The international financial institutions bear immense responsibility for achieving universal social protection, but it's imperative to shift away from an outdated economic model that often endorses austerity measures. The workers’ call is clear: scaling up social protection financing, an investment for societies which dramatically reduces inequalities while boosting employment, skills, productivity, demand for goods and services, and overall GDP growth".   Stephen Kidd, CEO of Development Pathways, said:   "The push by international financial institutions to promote poverty-targeted social assistance schemes–following the poor relief model used by Europe in the 19th century– across lower-income countries has meant that the vast majority of those living on low incomes have been excluded from social security, while national social contracts have been undermined as a result of citizens losing trust in their governments. It’s time that the international financial institutions got behind a modern system of universal life cycle social security system that ensures that everyone can receive protection from childhood to old age and, importantly, helps rebuild trust in government, democracy and strong social contracts".   For decades, the World Bank and the IMF have promoted this flawed approach, the groups said. They have failed to consider social security as a right and that it contributes to building fairer and more stable societies, and not just charity. This has contributed to a global reality in which 53 percent of people lack any form of social security, and whereas instability, social defiance, and polarization are growing and the needs for resilience are greater than ever in the face of the climate crisis.   “On the African continent we have witnessed the dire impact of failing to prioritize social protection resulting in inequality, rising poverty, children dropping out of school and unnecessary deaths,” said Angella Nabwowe, Executive Director of the Initiative for Social and Economic Rights. Nabwowe said:   "Governments must seize this moment to rethink current approaches to social protection that have excluded large segments of the population through targeting and must holistically invest in social protection. The World Bank/IMF and other funders must desist from promoting austerity and poverty targeting, all of which reduce the ability of our governments to adequately finance social protection and prioritize public services, including social protection".   “It is high time that governments, the World Bank, and the IMF acted to make universal social protection a reality,” said Marta Schaaf, the economic and social justice director at Amnesty International.   "The extraordinary combination of political, economic and climate crises is battering the lives and livelihoods of billions of people who have little or no access to social protection measures. Investing in universal social protection can provide security and dignity, and fulfill the right to social security for all. Protecting people against personal losses or losses due to shocks, from disasters or economic reversals, can be transformational, enabling children to stay in education, improving health care, reducing poverty and income inequality", Schaaf said.   http://www.socialprotectionfloorscoalition.org/social-security-for-all/ http://www.socialprotectionfloorscoalition.org/2023/10/global-demand-for-universal-social-security/ http://www.socialprotectionfloorscoalition.org/2023/10/video-of-the-launching-of-the-campaign-social-security-for-all/ http://www.ohchr.org/en/documents/studies/ahrc5483-inequality-social-protection-and-right-development-study-expert Visit the related web page
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