PHM-Exch> Recovering Rights Topic Three: Progressive Tax Measures to Realize Rights during the pandemic

[Claudio Schuftan]

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From: Terry Roethlein <troethlein at cesr.org>



The third brief
<https://www.cesr.org/sites/default/files/Brief%203%20Progressive%20Tax_.pdf>
in
our Recovering Rights
<https://www.cesr.org/covid-19-recovering-rights-series-0> series examines
emerging ideas for using new tax measures to finance pandemic relief and
recovery packages. Co-published with Tax Justice Network, the brief
<https://www.cesr.org/sites/default/files/Brief%203%20Progressive%20Tax_.pdf>
shows
how human rights standards strengthen the case for imposing new taxes on
excess profits and wealth, and for enacting overall reforms to tax systems
to improve redistribution and tackle inequality.

There is overwhelming agreement that a massive mobilization of resources is
needed to protect health and prevent economic devastation in the wake of
COVID-19. Many governments have responded with large-scale spending on
relief packages to guarantee people’s incomes and support collapsing
businesses. But what they’ll do to raise money remains less certain.

Taxing the “excess” profits of companies who are reaping huge rewards as a
result of the pandemic (such as the tech giants) and imposing more robust
taxation on the wealthiest individuals are two of the ideas currently
gaining most traction. As set out in the brief
<https://www.cesr.org/sites/default/files/Brief%203%20Progressive%20Tax_.pdf>,
these taxes would target the places in the economy where resources are most
concentrated and redistribute them to those whose rights are most at risk
from the impacts of COVID-19. As such, they would be in line with human
rights law, which requires governments to mobilize the “maximum of
available resources” (see Topic 1
<https://www.cesr.org/sites/default/files/CESR_COVID_Brief_1.pdf> in this
series) to realize everyone’s socioeconomic rights. However, in order to
remedy longstanding injustices and inequalities, it will also be essential
to enact broader reforms to tax systems–including cracking down on
corporate tax dodging–to make them more progressive and compliant with
human rights standards overall.

*CESR's **Recovering Rights
<https://www.cesr.org/covid-19-recovering-rights-series-0>** series aims to
spark debate on how human rights standards can be used as tools to shape a
just recovery to the COVID-19 pandemic. Over the coming weeks, we'll share
new briefs that unpack relevant standards and discuss how they relate to
concrete policies. *

Get this from a friend or colleague? To have future Recovering Rights
<https://www.cesr.org/covid-19-recovering-rights-series-0> briefs sent to
your inbox as soon as they are released, sign up for the special series here
<https://cesr.us18.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=bbdc7863dbbbe3e2857476d2f&id=541237692c>
.



*Read the latest brief here*
<https://www.cesr.org/sites/default/files/Brief%203%20Progressive%20Tax_.pdf>
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