- A group of millionaires begs governments to tax them “immediately. Substantially. Permanently” to finance the global recovery from the coronavirus.
- In an open letter with 83 signatures, the millionaires said government taxes rather than charity are needed to address the consequences of the virus.
- The signers include Ben & Jerry co-founder Jerry Greenfield and Disney heiress Abigail Disney.
- Visit the Business Insider home page for more stories.
A group of 83 millionaires declare in an open letter that more taxes will be applied to pay for the damage that COVID-19 caused to economies around the world.
The signatories of the letter, addressed to “our fellow citizens of the world”, called themselves “Millionaires for Humanity”.
The group includes Disney heirs Abigail and Tim Disney, Ben & Jerry co-founder Jerry Greenfield and “Love, Actually” director Richard Curtis.
Most of the group signed the letter from the United States. It also includes signatories from Germany, the United Kingdom, Canada and New Zealand.
Signatories said the additional government challenges of providing health care and education, and helping struggling businesses, all of which have been hit hard by the pandemic, cannot be solved through charity.
The group admitted that they do not drive ambulances, tend to hospital wards, or supply supermarket shelves amid the pandemic. “But we do have money,” they wrote. “Lots.”
The group said the onus is on the government to raise the necessary funds to tackle problems that they said will last for decades, they wrote.
“We can make sure we adequately fund our health, school and security systems through a permanent tax increase for the richest people on the planet, people like us,” they wrote, calling on governments to tax them “immediately. Substantially. Permanently. “
They ended the letter saying, “Then please. Impose us. Impose us. Impose us. It is the right choice. It is the only option.”
Some of the signatories are well known for their stance on higher taxes, such as Greenfield, which has long supported progressive causes and signed a similar letter in 2017, according to CNBC.
More recently, several of the signatories to the letter already joined a similar effort in June, in an open letter asking US presidential candidates to support a moderate wealth tax.
Stephen R. English, Abigail Disney and Catherine Gund, all signatories to the “Millionaires for Humanity” letter, also signed this one.
