Capital and Wealth Taxation in the EU

The issue of capital taxation is getting more pressing both for political and economic reasons. The current tax mix in most countries is highly unfair. While large multinational companies and ultra-rich find ways to avoid paying their fair share, the main burden of taxation falls on workers and the middle class. This further exacerbates income and wealth inequality, leading to economic dysfunction, desperation and anger of people across the EU and globally. The additional urgency for the EU comes from the need to finance its industrial upgrade, the twin transitions and the growing demand for public services, for which new resources are needed. Moreover, a fairer international tax regime and more public resources are needed for development aid to ensure that no one is left behind. 

Over the past years, progressives in the EU have secured many legislative breakthroughs that bolstered tax justice, for example, the global deal on minimum effective tax for multinationals and new rules to ensure better cooperation among tax authorities. However, exemptions embedded in the global deal and remaining differences in member states’ tax laws still leave ample room for tax avoidance. In this context, it is key to adopt legislative reforms to establish fair taxation, fight tax avoidance and provide new fiscal resources for the EU. We need to rebalance the tax mix to ease the burden on the workers and middle class and make sure corporates and ultra-rich pay their fair share.  

As the new EU legislature is getting pace, the FEPS and the Kalevi Sorsa Foundation, in collaboration with S&D Group in the European Parliament, organise this seminar to bring momentum to the need to reform wealth and capital income taxation. In this event, we will present and discuss different approaches to the taxation of capital gains in the EU and debate different options for the taxation of wealth at the international level, following up on the G20 Rio de Janeiro Leaders’ Declaration of November 2024. This will be followed by a discussion on policies and laws that the EU should adopt in the new legislature. 

The seminar is intended for up to 60 participants from the policy community and broader public; media will also be invited. It will be live-streamed and accompanied by a social media campaign. 

For more information regarding this event, please do not hesitate to contact Anna Kolesnichenko, FEPS Policy Analyst on Economy (anna.kolesnichenko@feps-europe.eu) and Vanessa Zwisele, FEPS Project Officer (vanessa.zwisele@feps-europe.eu).