Celebrities Ask To Pay More Tax
More than 120 millionaires and billionaires have signed a letter demanding to pay higher taxes, including UK screenwriter Richard Curtis and the Innocent Drinks co-founder Richard Reed. Acknowledging that they were “members of the most privileged class of human beings ever to walk the earth”, the ‘Millionaires against Pitchforks’ campaign urges “our fellow millionaires and billionaires across the globe” to call for tax increases to tackle rising tensions, curb “extreme, destabilising inequality”, and prevent a global crisis of “basic social cohesion… before it’s too late”.
“We urge you to step forward now… to demand higher and fairer taxes on millionaires and billionaires within your own countries and to help prevent individual and corporate tax avoidance and evasion through international tax reform efforts,” the letter states, adding that “most reasonable people understand that philanthropy has always been, and always will be, an inadequate substitute for government investment”. Other signees include Walt Disney’s grandniece Abigail, an activist and filmmaker, Julian Richer of Richer Sounds, and the former CEO of Unilever, Paul Polman.
Millionaires against Pitchforks is a joint venture with Patriotic Millionaires, a US-based campaign for higher taxes on the world’s richest, and the Human Act organisation, which aims to wipe out extreme poverty. “There are two kinds of wealthy people in the world: those who prefer taxes and those who prefer pitchforks,” says the letter. “We, the undersigned, prefer taxes. And we believe that, upon reflection, you will as well.” Timed to coincide with the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, the international campaign’s launch arrives at a time in which billionaires all around the world have seen their wealth rise by 25%; while the last decade has seen the number of billionaires double, in a world where, according to estimates, half the population survives on £4.20 a day or less.
The letter also cites research that suggests around a tenth of the world’s GDP ($8,000,000,000,000) is hidden in tax havens. Tax evasion and avoidance by the ultra-rich has reached “epidemic proportions”, while “many of the world’s largest corporations abuse tax havens [and] some pay no tax at all”. Those seeking to avoid their tax responsibilities, it says, “are often the same ones manipulating governments and democratic processes around the world for their own gain.”
Star Trek and Shaun of the Dead actor Simon Pegg, who signed the letter, told the Times that international law was “so full of loopholes, a billionaire can legally pay a lower rate of tax than his assistant, and a multinational company can pay less tax than a corner shop.” Pegg, believed to be worth £7m, said: “We live in a world where just 22 men have the same wealth as all 325 million women in Africa combined… It’s a responsibility for all of us who are fortunate enough to be wealthy to do our bit, pay our fair share and make sure people struggling to survive have a better chance at building a better life.” He added: "Fixing this broken economy might feel too complex to many world leaders, so let the millionaires help get you started. Tax them. Tax them more and do it now.”
“To be clear, every solution to this global crisis requires higher taxes on millionaires and billionaires like us,” the letter says. “You can join us in accepting this simple fact, and then help us get on with the business of repairing our fractured world — including working together to advance effective tax systems within our respective countries and internationally — or you can refuse to be part of the solution and accept that if we fail, you will be to blame.”