IMF calls for wealth tax to help cover cost of Covid pandemic

Fiscal monitor says rich should pay more tax on temporary basis to help support poor and vulnerable

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Governments should consider levying higher taxes on the income or wealth of the rich to help pay for the enormous cost of tackling the Covid-19 pandemic, the International Monetary Fund has said.

Inequality had widened in the year since the virus first hit the global economy, the IMF said, and there was a case for the better off being asked to pay more on a temporary basis to meet crisis-related financial costs.