SHARE ON: |
| |
| |
 |
 |
|
|
The Group of Seven wealthy democracies agreed Saturday to support a global minimum corporate tax of at least 15 per cent to deter multinational companies from avoiding taxes by stashing profits in low-rate countries.
G7 finance ministers meeting in London also endorsed proposals to make the worlds biggest companies - including U.S.-based tech giants - pay taxes in countries where they have lots of sales but no physical headquarters.
British Treasury chief Rishi Sunak, the host, said the deal would reform the global tax system to make it fit for the global digital age and crucially to make sure that its fair, so that the right companies pay the right tax in the right places.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said the agreement provides tremendous momentum for reaching a global deal that would end the race-to-the-bottom in corporate taxation and ensure fairness for the middle class and working people in the U.S. and around the world.
Nations have been grappling for years with the question of how to deter companies from legally avoiding paying taxes by using accounting and legal schemes to assign their profits to subsidiaries in tax havens - typically small countries that entice companies with low or zero taxes, even though the firms do little actual business there. International discussions on tax issues gained momentum after U.S. President Joe Biden backed the idea of a global minimum of at least 15 per cent -- and possibly higher -- on corporate profits.
The meeting of finance ministers came ahead of an annual summit of G7 leaders scheduled for June 11-13 in Cornwall, England. The endorsement from the G7 could help build momentum for a deal in wider talks among more than 135 countries being held in Paris as well as a Group of 20 finance ministers meeting in Venice in July.
Manal Corwin, a tax principal at professional services firm KPMG and a former Treasury Department official, said the meeting had clarified where important countries stood on several key issues, including the 15 per cent minimum.
Signaling that there is consensus around some of the key features of whats being discussed globally was really, really important so they have the momentum to go to the next phase of this with the G-20, she said.
The tax proposals endorsed Saturday have two main parts. The first part lets countries tax a share of the profits earned by companies that have no physical presence but have substantial sales, for instance through selling digital advertising.
France had launched debate over the issue by imposing its own digital services tax on revenues it deemed to have been earned in France by companies such as Google, Amazon and Facebook. Other countries have followed suit. The U.S. considers those national taxes to be unfair trade measures that improperly single out American firms.
Part of the agreement Saturday is that other countries would repeal their unilateral digital taxes in favor of a global agreement.
Facebooks vice-president for global affairs, Nick Clegg, said the deal is a big step toward increasing business certainty and raising public confidence in the global tax system but acknowledged it could cost the company.
We want the international tax reform process to succeed and recognize this could mean Facebook paying more tax, and in different places, Clegg said on Twitter.
The G7 statement echoes a U.S. proposal to let countries tax part of the earnings of the largest and most profitable multinational enterprises -- digital or not -- if they are doing business within their borders. It supported awarding countries the right to tax 20 per cent or more of local profits exceeding a 10 per cent profit margin.
Yellen, asked if she had given her European counterparts assurances that large U.S. tech firms would be included, said the agreement will include large profitable firms, and I believe those firms will qualify by almost any definition.
The other main part of the proposal is for countries to tax their home companies overseas profits at a rate of at least 15 per cent. That would deter the practice of using accounting schemes to shift profits to a few very low-tax countries because earnings untaxed overseas would face a top-up tax in the headquarters country.
At home, Biden is proposing a 21 per cent U.S. tax rate on companies overseas earnings, an increase from the 10.5 per cent-13.125 per cent enacted under former President Donald Trump. Even if the U.S. rate winds up higher than the global minimum, the difference would be small enough to eliminate most room for tax avoidance. Bidens proposal requires congressional approval.
KPMGs Corwin said the final statement was silent on several key points, including exactly which of the largest and most profitable multinationals would be covered by the proposal and how companies would be protected from double-billing if countries disagree on who has the right to tax them. Those complexities are fodder for the G-20 talks and the ongoing Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development talks in Paris.
The devil is in the details, Corwin said.
The Group of 7 is an informal forum among Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK and the United States. European Union representatives also attend. Its decisions are not legally binding, but leaders can use the forum to exert political influence.
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
2 pm |
| 25 ℃ |
| BROKEN CLOUDS |
WIND: WNW 36 KM/H
GUSTING TO 46 KM/H |
|
|
|
3 pm |
| 25 ℃ |
| BROKEN CLOUDS |
WIND: WNW 36 KM/H
GUSTING TO 46 KM/H |
|
|
|
4 pm |
| 24 ℃ |
| BROKEN CLOUDS |
WIND: WNW 33 KM/H
GUSTING TO 48 KM/H |
|
|
|
5 pm |
| 24 ℃ |
| BROKEN CLOUDS |
WIND: WNW 32 KM/H
GUSTING TO 48 KM/H |
|
|
|
6 pm |
| 23 ℃ |
| BROKEN CLOUDS |
WIND: WNW 32 KM/H
GUSTING TO 44 KM/H |
|
|
|
7 pm |
| 21 ℃ |
| BROKEN CLOUDS |
WIND: WNW 26 KM/H
GUSTING TO 37 KM/H |
|
|
 |
8 pm |
| 19 ℃ |
| SCATTERED CLOUDS |
WIND: WNW 28 KM/H
GUSTING TO 43 KM/H |
|
|
 |
9 pm |
| 18 ℃ |
| SCATTERED CLOUDS |
WIND: W 26 KM/H
GUSTING TO 49 KM/H |
|
|
|
|
TODAY |
HIGH OF 25 ℃
LOW OF 14 ℃ |
| BROKEN CLOUDS |
|
|
 |
TUESDAY |
HIGH OF 28 ℃
LOW OF 11 ℃ |
| CLEAR SKY |
|
|
|
WEDNESDAY |
HIGH OF 28 ℃
LOW OF 15 ℃ |
| CLEAR SKY |
|
|
|
THURSDAY |
HIGH OF 29 ℃
LOW OF 15 ℃ |
| OVERCAST CLOUDS |
|
|
 |
FRIDAY |
HIGH OF 29 ℃
LOW OF 19 ℃ |
| LIGHT RAIN |
|
|
|
SATURDAY |
HIGH OF 27 ℃
LOW OF 18 ℃ |
| LIGHT RAIN |
|
|
|
SUNDAY |
HIGH OF 29 ℃
LOW OF 16 ℃ |
| BROKEN CLOUDS |
|
|
|
MONDAY |
HIGH OF 23 ℃
LOW OF 14 ℃ |
| HEAVY INTENSITY RAIN |
|
|
|
|
|
 |
 |
|
| KingCamp Khan Villa Bell Tent – 15% Off! |
| |
| Create the perfect outdoor escape with the KingCamp Khan Villa 4-Season Bell Tent. Save 15% with code VILLA15 on your next adventure. |
| |
| Use code VILLA15 to save 15% on your KingCamp tent! |
|
 |
|
 |
|
|
 |
 |
THE SCORE
FIGHTER
02:11 PM |
|
 |
RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS
NERVE FLIP
02:08 PM |
|
 |
STARSET
DEGENERATE
02:04 PM |
|
 |
NOTHING MORE
ANGEL
02:00 PM |
|
 |
BAD OMENS
CAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH FOR
01:53 PM |
|
 |
AIRBORNE
BREAKIN OUT OF HELL
01:49 PM |
|
 |
THE VEER UNION
VENOM IN MY VEINS
01:43 PM |
|
 |
SEVEN HOURS AFTER VIOLET
RADIANCE
01:39 PM |
|
 |
KILLSWITCH ENGAGE
AFTERMATH
01:36 PM |
|
 |
ZZ TOP
SHARP DRESSED MAN
01:31 PM |
|
 
 |
