Ireland’s super rich have ‘duty’ to pay more tax, says Oxfam Ireland CEO amid calls for wealth tax

In a turn for the books, a growing number of the world’s super rich are demanding their respective governments make them pay more tax.

But in light of a lack of any similar calls from Ireland’s 1pc Oxfam Ireland’s chief executive Jim Clarken has spoken out.

Mr Clarken, who is an Executive Board Member of Oxfam International, said: "With the rising number of millionaires and billionaires in Ireland we believe the time is right to introduce a wealth tax.”

He said Ireland’s wealthiest have not gotten to their position “through their own ingenuity or talent alone”.

“Their wealth is built upon the work of countless others - on the investment every taxpayer puts into the education system, on the hard work of their employees, on the state and community supports they have had along the way. It is only right that everyone makes a proper contribution to the wider society.”

Oxfam Ireland is proposing that the Irish government make the super-rich pay an additional percentage on their net wealth with the introduction of a permanent progressive wealth tax of an additional 2pc on net wealth above €4.67m ($5m), an additional 3pc on net wealth over €46.7m ($50m) and an additional 5pc on net wealth over €934.7 million ($1bn).

Mr Jenkins said Ireland’s super rich have a “duty” to their country.

In January, Oxfam published a report that shows the number of Irish people with an individual wealth of over €46.6m ($50m) has more than doubled between 2012 and 2022, rising from 655 to 1,435 individuals.

That same month more than 250 billionaires and millionaires from around the world penned an open letter to world leaders with one request: “we ask you to task us, the very richest in society”.

The signatories of the letter entitled ‘Proud to Pay’ came from 17 countries. They include Succession star Brian Cox, Valerie Rockefeller, an heiress to the US dynasty and Disney heiress Abigail Disney. They said “we are the people who benefit most from the status quo”.

Meanwhile the income tax system is now increasingly reliant on higher earners, as opposed to the super rich. The current effective tax rate on a single person earning €100,000 is now 36.4pc or 39pc for someone earning €120,000.

The top 1pc of earners – those earning over €250,000 a year – pay 21pc of total income tax and USC, while the top 10pc pay 62pc of the tax and USC.