In response to misreporting of an alleged proposal by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on wealth taxes, Mr. Sanjeev Gupta, Acting Director of the IMF’s Fiscal Affairs Department, issued the following statement today:

“An analytical box in the recent edition of the Fiscal Monitor reviews a range of external discussions and experiences regarding a one-off capital levy. It also draws attention to the considerable downside risks of such a tax. It emphatically does not recommend a wealth tax.

“The analytical description of the issue in the Fiscal Monitor should not be misconstrued as an IMF policy proposal, which does not exist.”