PROUD TO
PAY MORE

Sign our letter

To global leaders gathering at Davos:

We are surprised that you have failed to answer a simple question that we have been asking for three years: when will you tax extreme wealth? If elected representatives of the world’s leading economies do not take steps to address the dramatic rise of economic inequality, the consequences will continue to be catastrophic for society.

Our drive for fairer taxes is not radical. Rather, it is a demand for a return to normality based on a sober assessment of current economic conditions. We are the people who invest in startups, shape stock markets, grow businesses, and foster sustainable economic growth. We are also the people who benefit most from the status quo. But inequality has reached a tipping point, and its cost to our economic, societal, and ecological stability risk is severe - and growing every day. In short, we need action now.  

Our request is simple: we ask you to tax us, the very richest in society. This will not fundamentally alter our standard of living, nor deprive our children, nor harm our nations’ economic growth. But it will turn extreme and unproductive private wealth into an investment for our common democratic future. 

The solution to this cannot be found in one-off donations or in philanthropy; individual action cannot redress the current colossal imbalance. We need our governments and our leaders to lead. And so we come to you again with the urgent request that you act - unilaterally at the national level, and together on the international stage. 

Every moment of delay entrenches the dangerous economic status quo, threatens our democratic norms, and passes the buck to our children and grandchildren. Not only do we want to be taxed more but we believe we must be taxed more. We would be proud to live in countries where this is expected, and proud of elected leaders who build better futures. As the wealthiest members of society, we would be:

• Proud to pay more to tackle extreme inequality. 

• Proud to pay more to help reduce the cost of living for working people. 

• Proud to pay more to better educate the next generation.

• Proud to pay more for resilient healthcare systems.

• Proud to pay more for better infrastructure.

• Proud to pay more for a green transition.

• Proud to pay more taxes on our extreme wealth.

The value of fairer tax systems should be self-evident. We all know that ‘trickle down economics’ has not translated into reality. Instead it has given us stagnating wages, crumbling infrastructure, failing public services, and destabilized the very institution of democracy. It has created a shameful economic system incapable of providing a brighter, more sustainable future. These challenges will only worsen if you fail to address extreme wealth inequality.

The true measure of a society can be found, not just in how it treats its most vulnerable, but in what it asks of its wealthiest members. Our future is one of tax pride, or economic shame. That’s the choice.

We ask you to take this necessary and inevitable step before it’s too late. Make your countries proud. Tax extreme wealth.

Sincerely,

The Undersigned