G20 leaves the super-rich smiling, but vows to keep chatting
The Big Picture: The G20 wrapped up in Johannesburg with soaring rhetoric on fairness but, spoiler alert, no binding deal to tax billionaires. Instead, leaders promised “constructive engagement” on the 15 % global minimum tax and the thorny digital levy, even as Washington keeps its arms folded.
The Details: In their closing communique, G20 chiefs agreed to “address concerns regarding Pillar Two global minimum taxes” and craft a new OECD transparency framework for real-estate holdings, Business Standard reports (link). A companion piece by Devdiscourse (link) notes the elephant in the room: the U.S. has formally nixed the deal at home, citing “no force or effect.”
Why It Matters: The reaction was swift. Greenpeace slammed the summit as a “missed chance” to make the super-rich pay their share, calling the inaction “indefensible,” according to Greenpeace International (link). With the United States set to chair the G20 in 2026, tax professionals wonder whether the bloc can move from polite promises to enforceable rules.
Around the Tax World
• Africa speaks up: Finance ministers and tax chiefs from 43 countries opened ATAF 2025 in Algiers to plot “efficient and targeted” tax systems and fight illicit flows ( AL24news ).
• Crypto clamp-down: The IRS signaled it will sign on to the OECD’s Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework, inching closer to automatic cross-border reporting of offshore wallets ( Forbes ).
• Uganda’s telecom tally: An Auditor-General review says ₦2 trillion (about $525 m) in telecom transfer-pricing transactions went unaudited, risking revenue leakage ( Daily Monitor ).
Tax Stat of the Day
41 %, the slice of global wealth captured by the top 1 % between 2000 and 2024, per the G20-commissioned Stiglitz report (Greenpeace International).
Looking Ahead
All eyes turn to 2026 when the U.S. takes the G20 gavel, and the world waits to see if “constructive engagement” morphs into real tax rules.