The principle that the rich should pay proportionally more taxes than the poor has inspired the development of progressive tax structures, according to research on the subject. However, it should be noted that the implementation of such a tax is complex and has several starting points.
Although the number of empirical studies evaluating the economic and behavioral effects of a wealth tax is small, research on the tax in academic circles has been evolving and has opened up political space to discover the possible benefits of taxing people considered super rich and its role in reducing inequality.
In recent years, the proposal to tax large fortunes has gained momentum in the Brazilian scenario, especially after neighboring countries, such as Argentina, defined the application of the law to tax high-value assets.
Proof of this is in the number of bills on the subject: of 37 proposals south africa mobile database since 2008, 18 have already been forwarded to the plenary, as of 2020. The IGF, which is present in the Federal Constitution, but requires complementary legislation, would serve as a way of progressively collecting the tax – that is, it increases according to wealth – which would fall on the richest.
In this way, each bill varies to define the range of taxpayers' wealth: some establish those with assets above R$2 million, while others indicate the value above R$50 million.
Interestingly, there is no single party ideology on this issue. Political parties from different spectrums such as PSOL, MDB, PT, PSL, PODEMOS and PSDB led the proposals between 2008 and 2020. According to research presented by the National Union of Federal Revenue Auditors (Sindifisco), the collection of the new tax could reach up to R$40 billion annually, drawing public attention to the issue.
In any case, the discussion about the Wealth Tax has been receiving attention within the political and social sphere, in which some proposals have become popular in monitoring government actions and, therefore, the topic will probably still become the protagonist of more demands and arguments.
Although there are still doubts about the direction of the proposals, legislative monitoring is essential to follow up on the procedures that can directly impact the economy and company strategies.