A/HRC/31/60 63. Introducing a wealth tax is another measure States should consider. Against the backdrop of increasing inequality, wealth taxes have recently found new attention 99 and may provide another way for increasing tax revenues while also fostering equality. States should also reassess other forms of taxation of property, including the transfer of assets. Broadening the tax base this way, and by closing loopholes in the tax code, has the benefit of improving both efficiency and equity. 100 64. Furthermore, States should put an emphasis on fighting tax evasion and avoidance.101 Tax loopholes used by wealthy individuals and multinational companies must be closed. Corporate tax minimizing strategies need to be addressed urgently. For this to be sufficiently effective, and in order to avoid detrimental outcomes for States advancing with such efforts, the work in this field, as in others discussed before, needs to be international in its scope. 65. Simultaneously, the findings of the report call for consistent public spending policies that ensure full compliance with the human rights obligations of the States. Such policies must first and foremost ensure that the human rights of the poorest and most vulnerable be respected, protected and fulfilled. They also must include decisive steps towards reversing the trend towards increasing inequality within and among States. 66. It is of utmost importance that States provide and progressively extend social protection floors, in accordance with the Social Protection Floor Initiative, the ILO Social Protection Floors Recommendation, 2012 (No. 202), and Goal 1.3 of the Sustainable Development Goals.102 This entails at a minimum that “all in need have access to essential health care and to basic income security”,103 in particular for socially disadvantaged groups. However, States are under the obligation to work progressively towards the full realization of economic, social and cultural rights, using the maximum of the available resources. Consequently, States must continue further developing and extending their social systems, if resources permit. Cuts in social spending, and particularly social security and unemployment benefits, may only be made in cases of absolute necessity, after the most careful consideration of all alternatives, which may include tax reforms,16 and only if they are duly justified by reference to the totality of the rights provided for in the Covenant in the context of the full use of the State party’s maximum available resources (duty of nonretrogression).104 67. Public spending must be structured in a way that it benefits mostly persons and groups in need. Despite great efforts of many States and the international community, redistributive policies favour all too often the haves rather than the have-nots, 99 100 101 102 103 104 20 See Piketty, Capital in the Twenty-First Century (footnote 4). See F. Cingano, “Trends in income inequality and its impact on economic growth”, OECD Social, Employment and Migration Working Papers No. 163 (2014), para. 58. See the report of the Independent Expert (A/HRC/31/61). See the report of the Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, Philip Alston, in which a thorough analysis of the linkages between social protection and human rights is provided (A/69/297), and Human Rights Council resolution 25/11. Sec. 4 ILO Social Protection Floors Recommendation, 2012 (No. 202). See Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, general comment No. 3, para. 9.