Survival of the Richest- says new Report from OXFAM

 According to a new report released on January 16, India's richest 1% now controls more than 40% ofthe nation's overall wealth, while the poorest 50% of the population collectively own just 3% of thecountry's wealth.

The rights organisation Oxfam International said that taxing India's top ten earners at 5% wouldgenerate enough revenue to send all children back to school when it released the India supplement toits annual inequality report on the first day of the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos.

“A one-off tax on unrealized gains from 2017–2021 on just one billionaire, Gautam Adani, couldhave raised Rs 1.79 lakh crore, enough to employ more than five million Indian primary schoolteachers for a year,” it added.

Only the Rich Survives

According to the "Survival of the Richest" report, if India's billionaires paid a single tax of 2% ontheir entire fortune, it would provide the Rs. 40,423 crore needed to feed the country's malnourishedfor the following three years.

“A one-time tax of 5 per cent on the 10 richest billionaires in the country (Rs.1.37 lakh crore) is morethan 1.5 times the funds estimated by the Health and Family Welfare Ministry (Rs.86,200 crore) and

the Ministry of Ayush (Rs.3,050 crore) for the year 2022-23,” it added.

According to the report's findings on gender inequality, female workers only receive 63 paise forevery rupee earned by a male worker. The disparity is much more pronounced for Scheduled Castesand rural employees, who between 2018 and 2019 earned only 50% of urban workers' salaries and55% of those of privileged socioeconomic groups.

It continued, “Taxing the top 100 Indian billionaires at 2.5 per cent, or taxing the top 10 Indianbillionaires at 5 per cent would nearly cover the entire amount required to bring the children backinto school,”

According to Oxfam, the research uses both anecdotal and quantitative data to examine the effectsof inequality in India. While government sources like NSS, Union budget documents, parliamentaryquestions, and so on have been utilised to support claims made throughout the research, secondarysources like Forbes and Credit Suisse have been used to examine wealth inequality and billionairewealth in the nation.

The wealth of billionaires surges

According to Oxfam, billionaires in India have seen their wealth increase by 121%, or Rs 3,608 crore,each day, since the pandemic started through November 2022. On the other side, only 3% of the totalRs 14.83 lakh crore in Goods and Services Tax (GST) in 2021–22 came from the richest 10% of thepopulation, with around 64% of GST coming from the poorest 50% of the population.

According to Oxfam, there were 166 billionaires in India overall in 2022, up from 102 in 2020. Thetotal fortune of the top 100 richest people in India has reached USD 660 billion (Rs 54.12 lakh crore),which, it was noted, could cover the entire Union Budget for more than 18 months.

Oxfam India CEO Amitabh Behar added, “The country’s marginalised—Dalits, Adivasis, Muslims,Women, and informal sector workers are continuing to suffer in a system which ensures the survivalof the richest. The poor are paying disproportionately higher taxes, spending more on essential itemsand services when compared to the rich. The time has come to tax the rich and ensure they pay theirfair share.”"

According to Oxfam, billionaires in India have seen their wealth increase by 121%, or Rs 3,608 crore,each day, since the pandemic started through November 2022. On the other side, only 3% of the totalRs 14.83 lakh crore in Goods and Services Tax (GST) in 2021–22 came from the richest 10% of thepopulation, with around 64% of GST coming from the poorest 50% of the population.

According to Oxfam, there were 166 billionaires in India overall in 2022, up from 102 in 2020. Thetotal fortune of the top 100 richest people in India has reached USD 660 billion (Rs 54.12 lakh crore),which, it was noted, could cover the entire Union Budget for more than 18 months.

Behar encouraged the finance minister of the Union to enact progressive tax policies including healthtax and inheritance tax, which he claimed had traditionally been beneficial in reducing inequality.

According to Oxfam, who cited a 2021 national survey by the Fight Inequality Alliance India(FIA India), more than 80% of Indians support taxing the wealthy and businesses that made recordprofits during the Covid-19 outbreak. “More than 90 per cent participants demanded budgetmeasures to combat inequality such as universal social security, right to health and expansion ofbudget to prevent gender-based violence,” it added.

“It’s time we demolish the convenient myth that tax cuts for the richest result in their wealth somehow‘trickling down’ to everyone else. Taxing the super-rich is the strategic precondition to reducinginequality and resuscitating democracy. We need to do this for innovation. For stronger publicservices and for happier and healthier societies,” said Gabriela Bucher, Executive Director ofOxfam International.

Solidarity wealth tax

In order to stop crisis profiteering, Oxfam India requested the Union Finance Minister to enact

windfall taxes and one-time solidarity wealth taxes. Additionally, it called for a permanent rise

in taxes on the richest 1%, with a focus on capital gains taxes, which are now taxed at a lower rate

than other types of income.

In addition, Oxfam urged for raising the budgetary allocation of the health sector to 2.5% of GDP by

2025, as envisioned in the National Health Policy, as well as for inheritance, property, and land taxes,

as well as net wealth taxes. Oxfam stated that it also wants to see public health systems upgraded and

budgetary support for education increased to the international standard of 6% of GDP.

it continued “Ensure workers in formal and informal sector are paid basic minimum wages.

The minimum wages should be at par with living wages which is essential for living a life with dignity”.

Food companies should face windfall tax 

Oxfam International said food firms generating large profits as inflation has risen should pay

windfall taxes to reduce global inequality as the annual conference of the World Economic Forum

got underway.

It has sought for ten years to expose inequality at the gathering of political and corporate leaders inthe Swiss ski resort of Davos, and that is one of the concepts in its annual report.

The report, which is intended to spark discussion on panels with corporate and political leaders this

week, claimed that despite the world being plagued by multiple crises at once—including climate

change, rising living costs, Russia's conflict in Ukraine, and the COVID-19 pandemic—the richest

people in the world have become even wealthier and corporate profits are rising.

According to Oxfam, the world's super-rich 1% have amassed almost twice as much wealth as the

remaining 99% put together over the past two years. While the wealth of billionaires is growing by

$2.7 billion per day, at least 1.7 billion employees reside in nations where inflation is surpassing wage

growth.

Combating inequality

Oxfam advocated for increased taxes on the wealthy to address these issues, including the

implementation of one-time "solidarity" taxes and an increase in the minimum tax rate for the

wealthiest taxpayers. Elon Musk, the wealthy CEO of Tesla, had a genuine tax rate of slightly over

3% from 2014 to 2018, according to the group.

As the price of oil and natural gas skyrocketed last year as a result of Russia's conflict in Ukraine,

straining household budgets all around the world, several governments have begun taxing the

unforeseen gains made by fossil fuel businesses. To help close the growing wealth disparity, Oxfam

seeks to expand the concept to include large food firms.

“What we’re calling for is windfall taxes, not only on energy companies but also on food companies to

end this crisis profiteering,” Bucher said in an interview.

“The number of billionaires is growing, and they’re getting richer, and also very large food and energy

companies are making excessive profits,” said Gabriela Bucher, Oxfam International’s executive

director.

Please excuse us, there is a War going on!

According to a report by Oxfam, affluent firms are using the conflict as a justification to raise prices

even further. According to the group, oligopolies with a small number of dominant firms may maintain

high prices since there is little to no competition in the food and energy sectors.

At least one nation has already taken action. Portugal imposed a windfall tax on significant food sellers,

such as supermarket and hypermarket chains, as well as energy firms. It became effective at the

beginning of January and will remain in effect through 2023. Profits that are at least 20% more than

the average of the prior four years are subject to a 33 percent tax. Funds raised support social welfare

projects and help small food retailers.

According to Oxfam, an analysis of 95 businesses that experienced windfall profits revealed that 84%

of these profits went to shareholders while higher prices were passed on to customers.