G7 nations very close to global corporate tax deal, says France

Disagreements remain over minimum rate, scope of tax. UK’s Sunak says world is watching whether G7 can agree. US proposes minimum global corporate tax of at least 15%.

LONDON

Some of the world’s richest nations are within touching distance of a historic deal to close the net on large companies which do not pay their fair share of tax, French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said on Friday after a day of talks in London.

Finance ministers from the Group of Seven are meeting in person for the first time since the start of the COVID pandemic, after US President Joe Biden’s administration gave fresh impetus to stalled global tax talks this year.

Rich nations have struggled for years to agree a way to raise more tax from large multinationals such as Google, Amazon and Facebook, which often book profits in jurisdictions where they pay little or no tax.

“We are just one millimetre away from a historic agreement,” Le Maire told the BBC after leaving the talks.

But major disagreements do remain on both the minimum rate at which companies should be taxed, and on how the rules will be drawn up to ensure that very large companies with lower profit margins, such as Amazon, face higher taxes.

The United States has proposed a minimum corporation tax rate of 15%, above the level in countries such as Ireland but well below the average in the G7.

Le Maire said this represented “only a starting point”.