Report shows wealthiest people pay less tax in world

File photo shows tax bills. (Photo courtesy of Pixabay)

Super-rich people and corporations in the world have been taking advantages from taxation with some of the lowest levels of tax in decades, a developmental charity said in a recent report.

"The number of billionaires has doubled since the financial crisis and their fortunes grow by 2.5 billion U.S. dollars a day, yet the super-rich and corporations are paying lower rates of tax than they have in decades," according to the briefing paper of the report done by Oxfam.

"In rich countries, the average top rate of personal income tax fell from 62 percent in 1970 to 38 percent in 2013. In developing countries, the average top rate of personal income tax is 28 percent," said the report published Sunday.

According to the Britain-based confederation of 20 independent charitable organizations, global wealth became even more concentrated, as 26 individuals possessed the same fortune as what the 3.8 billion poorest people owned altogether in 2018.

There are still 3.4 billion people living on less than 5.5 dollars a day, the report said, noting that investment in public services like education and health helps reduce inequality and poverty.

The report also focused on gender disparity, pointing out that women earn 23 percent less than men and men own 50 percent more of the total wealth than women globally.

"We need to transform our economies to deliver universal health, education and other public services," the report suggested.

It also mentioned that fairer taxation of the wealthiest could "drive a dramatic reduction in the gap between rich and poor and between women and men."