The Covid-19 Outbreak and the Need for Wealth Tax

Abstract

The world was caught by Covid-19 Pandemic at a time when economic growth was slowing and ecological crises were manifesting themselves. On one hand the pandemic exposed the gross insufficiency of the world’s health infrastructure and the magnitude of inequality, on the other hand it led to a deepened economic crisis. Consequently, unemployment and poverty increased immensely on a global scale. The unprecedented fiscal and monetary policies which were put into action to tackle the pandemic, led to significant deficit and state borrowing in the nation states’ budgets and to an increase in their debt stock. As a result of these developments progressive wealth tax which had been out of the limelight for some time came back to the agenda. While it was Argentina which applied such a wealth tax first, this tax continues to be discussed in developed economies including the US. This study discusses the aspects of progressive wealth tax both in the world and Turkey.

Keywords

• wealth tax
• income distribution
• Covid-19
• fiscal support

Covid-19 Salgını ve Servet Vergisi İhtiyacı

Abstract

Dünya Covid-19 Salgınına ekonomik büyümenin yavaşladığı ve ekolojik krizlerin kendini gösterdiği bir dönemde yakalandı. Salgın bir yandan dünyadaki sağlık alt yapısının ne denli yetersiz ve eşitsizliklerin ne kadar büyük boyutlarda olduğunu gösterirken, diğer yandan da derin bir ekonomik krize neden oldu. Bunun sonucunda küresel çapta olmak üzere işsizlik ve yoksulluk devasa biçimde arttı. Salgınla mücadelede daha önce görülmemiş boyutlarda maliye ve para politikası önlemlerine başvurulurken, bu durum ulus devletlerin bütçelerinde ciddi açıklara ve devlet borçlanmasında ve borç stoklarında artışlara yol açtı. Bu gelişmelerin sonucunda bir süredir gündemden kalkmış olan artan oranlı servet vergisi yeniden gündeme geldi. İlk olarak Arjantin böyle bir servet vergisi uygulaması başlatırken, başta ABD olmak üzere gelişkin ekonomilerde bu vergi tartışılmaya devam ediyor. Bu çalışmada dünyada olduğu kadar Türkiye’de artan oranlı bir servet vergisinin değişik veçheleri ele alınmaktadır.

Keywords

• Covid-19
• Pandemi
• Servet Vergisi

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