The Taxation of Wealth for Eradication of Poverty and Inequality

This policy brief by the Institute for Economic Justice argues for the implementation of progressive wealth taxation—including financial transaction taxes, net wealth taxes, and resource rent taxes—to combat global inequality and fund sustainable development goals.

• Progressive wealth taxation instruments can generate significant revenue for social and economic infrastructure. A Financial Transaction Tax (FTT) could potentially yield $900 billion annually, while a global wealth tax targeting the richest 3,000 individuals could raise approximately $250 billion per year.
• The document identifies several viable tax mechanisms for domestic resource mobilisation: Financial Transaction Taxes to curb speculative trading, Net Wealth Taxes, Property Taxation for urban development, and Resource Rent Taxes to ensure natural resource industries benefit society over private corporations.
• Economic inequality is intensified by regressive tax structures, particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa where reliance on consumption taxes like VAT persists despite economic growth.

APA

iej_admin (2024). The Taxation of Wealth for Eradication of Poverty and Inequality. Institute for Economic Justice. https://iej.org.za/resource/policy-brief/the-taxation-of-wealth-for-eradication-of-poverty-and-inequality/

Chicago

iej_admin. The Taxation of Wealth for Eradication of Poverty and Inequality. Institute for Economic Justice, 2024. https://iej.org.za/resource/policy-brief/the-taxation-of-wealth-for-eradication-of-poverty-and-inequality/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=iej_admin |title=The Taxation of Wealth for Eradication of Poverty and Inequality |publisher=Institute for Economic Justice |date=15 August 2024 |url=https://iej.org.za/resource/policy-brief/the-taxation-of-wealth-for-eradication-of-poverty-and-inequality/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{iejadmin2024taxation, author = {iej\_admin}, title = {{The Taxation of Wealth for Eradication of Poverty and Inequality}}, institution = {Institute for Economic Justice}, year = {2024}, month = aug, url = {https://iej.org.za/resource/policy-brief/the-taxation-of-wealth-for-eradication-of-poverty-and-inequality/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }