Billionaire Tax Kicked Into Distant Future as G-20 Sets Limits

Global finance leaders are poised to set limits on Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s call for a global tax on billionaires, consigning the initiative to research on taxation and inequality that could take years to deliver results.

Group of 20 finance ministers gathering this week in Rio de Janeiro will likely issue a joint declaration on Thursday calling for studies on how governments can increase transparency and fairness when it comes to taxing individuals, according to officials from multiple countries attending the meetings.

Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva

Photographer: Dado Galdieri/Bloomberg

That task will be carried out by the architects of a global minimum ...