It’s Time for Pillar 3: A Global Excess Profits Tax for COVID-19 and Beyond

Abstract

The novel coronavirus demands untold amounts of public spending even as it has destroyed untold amounts of economic value, yet the fortunes of some taxpayers will multiply in the process. The authors consider proposals to rebuild revenue coffers using excess profits taxes and argue that, owing to emerging global tax data, norms, and governance structures, a global excess profits tax has better prospects than a series of unilateral measures.