Alfred Gantner – a Swiss billionaire – called for increasing taxes on the rich, right after the Swiss people voted against the 50% inheritance tax on the super rich.
In an article published on December 1 in the Tages-Anzeiger newspaper, Gantner said the increasing concentration of wealth in a group of people is a major problem globally.
“It’s not possible for some people in this country to have so much wealth, while others don’t even know how they’re going to pay rent and health insurance,” said Gantner, co-founder of private equity investment firm Partners Group. He currently owns assets of 3.5 billion USD, according to Forbes, and is the 1,054th richest person in the world.
Gantner believes that luck is also an important factor in amassing large fortunes, but he does not support imposing an inheritance tax, because this tax can be easily circumvented. According to him, it is necessary to apply progressive taxes on the assets of the rich. For example, assets over 200 million Swiss francs are subject to a 1% penalty. Assets of 500 million USD are 1.2%. 1 billion USD with 1.5% tax…
Without efforts to solve this problem, “Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg and Alfred Gantner will accumulate a lot more money in the next 20 years,” he said.
Swiss billionaire Alfred Gantner currently owns more than 3.5 billion USD. Image: Climeworks
These comments came shortly after the Swiss vote on November 30 to impose a 50% tax on inheritances of 50 million Swiss francs ($62 million) or more. Accordingly, 78% of people oppose this plan, higher than forecast in previous polls.
Switzerland is one of the world’s leading asset management centers. Currently, the country has about 2,500 people who own assets of 50 million francs or more. Their total assets are about 500 billion Swiss francs.
Property tax has recently been a controversial issue globally, especially in the context of bulging public debt of countries and increasing income inequality. In Europe, Switzerland, Spain and Norway have many forms of taxation on property owners above a certain level. France and Britain are arguing about this idea to reduce the budget deficit.
However, not all billionaires support a wealth tax like Gantner. In September, LVMH billionaire Bernard Arnault – the richest person in Europe – criticized the proposal to impose a 2% tax on those with assets over 100 million euros (117 million USD). He said this could destroy the French economy, because he feared the plan would cause the rich to leave.