Recently, Peter Kavelaars, Professor of Economics of Taxation at Erasmus School of Economics, was a guest on BNR Nieuwsradio where he gave his expertise on the introduction of the global minimum tax. This minimum tax aims to tax the very richest.
Currently, there is a view among some that the very rich can move their wealth to countries with a low tax burden too easily. According to them, the government should internationally push hard for a global minimum tax for these wealthy people. For companies, after years of struggle, there is already a global minimum tax rate of 15%.
The fact that the very richest move their wealth abroad is not a huge problem from a budgetary point of view, Kavelaars argues. 'This is a very small group of people so for the state, this missed tax is not hugely problematic,' the Professor adds. Mainly, there is a societal-ethical problem here, as wealth has been yielding good returns for years and a lower tax on it abroad is often seen as unfair. Finally, about the minimum tax, Kavelaars maps that it does not contribute to making our tax system less complex: on the contrary.