The union-affiliated Momentum Institute campaigned for wealth tax with a campaign in central Vienna on Tuesday. Support for this came from Djaffar Shalchi, multimillionaire and founder of the international initiative “Millionaires for Humanity”, and Marlene Engelhorn, heiress to millions and activist of the initiative “Tax Me Now”. Wealth taxes are the solution to combat growing inequality and to safeguard the welfare state, and thus its purport.
For a giant inflatable blue elephant representing the obvious, that taxing wealth could be the answer to a “rapid concentration” of wealth, both Shalchi and Engelhorn pointed out that the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer.
“The richest 1 percent pays no taxes”
The elephant represents the fact that it is not a question of whether wealth tax should be introduced, but how wealth is taxed, Engelhorn emphasises. Politicians should do their homework, because those who go to work every day would be hit hard, according to Engelhorn: “The richest one percent pays no taxes and still benefits.” process, argued the activist.
With the “Millionaires for Humanity” initiative, Shalchi advocates for the worldwide introduction of a one percent wealth tax for the richest one percent. This is intended to fight poverty and fund welfare states. A “systematic change” is needed.
Wealth in Austria is very unevenly distributed
According to Momentum economist Mattias Muckenhuber, wealth in Austria is unevenly distributed in European comparison. This applies in particular to real estate assets. Only a small proportion of households (9.5 percent) own real estate in which they do not live. 80 percent of rental income went to the wealthiest 10 percent of households. In addition, this tenth also benefits from rising real estate prices, while inflation weighs relatively less heavily.
However, the government could not concentrate on curbing rental costs. And housing benefits, which are largely borne by taxes on work, eventually end up on the landlord’s bills, Muckenhuber criticized. To combat the unequal structure of tax revenues, the Momentum Institute is also committed to reintroducing inheritance and wealth taxes, says Muckenhuber.
Source: Krone
I’m Ben Stock, a journalist and author at Today Times Live. I specialize in economic news and have been working in the news industry for over five years. My experience spans from local journalism to international business reporting. In my career I’ve had the opportunity to interview some of the world’s leading economists and financial experts, giving me an insight into global trends that is unique among journalists.
