Debate: Role of tax policy in times of crisis
Date: MONDAY, 11 DECEMBER 2023
Speaker: Kira Marie Peter-Hansen
Country: Italy
Language: EN

I think we should start by recognising that the role of taxation as a policy instrument to redistribute revenue and steer behaviour remains underutilised in European policymaking. We all collectively pay every single day a high price for this failure to act at EU level, especially in times of crisis. During the most recent crises, such as COVID, the energy crisis or inflation, inequalities increased, inequalities between men and women, inequality between the very rich and the rest, and inequalities between big corporations and small businesses and self-employed. The report proposes key elements to make European tax systems more equal, fairer and green, and we want the Commission to play a stronger role in making this happen. Only a holistic and responsible EU wide tax reform will make us collectively ready to pay for the many challenges. Today, I hope we can use this plenary debate to confront the stark reality of our current tax system – a tax system where a nurse, a teacher or a fireman dedicating their lives to caring of others face a higher tax rate than a shareholder, a billionaire flying around the world in a private jet or a big multinational. Let’s be concrete and allow me to share two examples. The very rich pollute much more than regular citizens, and in 2021 and 2022 alone, we have seen a big increase in private jets in the EU, an increase of 64%. At the same time, some multinationals are misusing the crisis years to raise consumer prices for them to have even more profits, the so-called ‘excess profits’. We’ve seen that inflation has been profit driven in the EU, and this is recognised by both ECB, IMF and academia. So the scenario that we collectively live in is one where a nurse earning a normal wage contributes an important portion of her salary in taxes, funding essential public services that benefit us all, while due to political choices, a wealthy shareholder will see its profits zero or low tax in the EU. This is not merely an abstract concept, but a tangible inequality that exists within our societies. Those who contribute directly to our communities bear heavier tax than those who profit immensely. That’s not the society I want, and it is not the society that the 99% deserve. Tomorrow, Members of this Parliament stand for clear choice when voting on this report. Do they want a tax system that doesn’t make workers bear the burden, as they can’t easily move around to another country, a more gender equal tax system – and it is no coincidence that men mostly own shares and have most wealth, and that this wealth remains low taxed – a fairer tax system in which big polluters and multinationals pay taxes on their excess profits made on the back of normal people paying a higher bill in the supermarkets, a society with sufficient tax revenues to invest in our healthcare, education, infrastructure, renewable energy and innovative businesses? Regrettably, today and tomorrow, conservative voices will consciously attempt to mischaracterise progressive tax policies as synonyms with higher taxes on workers. This is deeply false. Not taxing fairly the rich, the big polluters and the multinationals is a political choice, and it shouldn’t be our political choice.