G7 nations near historic deal on taxing multinationals

Group of Seven rich nations are seeking to overcome long-standing differences on Saturday and strike a landmark deal to close the net on large companies that they say do not pay enough tax.

The proposed accord, which could form the basis of a global pact next month, is aimed at ending a decades-long “race to the bottom” in which countries have competed to attract corporate giants with ultra-low tax rates and exemptions.

That has in turn cost their public coffers hundreds of billions of dollars – a shortfall they now need to recoup all the more urgently to pay for the huge cost of propping up economies ravaged by the coronavirus crisis.

Britain’s finance ministry said Saturday morning’s talks between the G7 finance ministers had been “productive”.

Ministers are meeting face-to-face for the first time since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, and a formal statement after the meeting concludes is due early afternoon.

“Talks are going well,” a British source familiar with the negotiations said.

The French and German finance ministers had already set up high hopes for a deal after the first day of talks on Friday.

“We are just one millimetre away from a historic agreement,” French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire told the BBC.

British finance minister Rishi Sunak, who is chairing the talks, also wants large companies to be required to declare their environmental impact in a consistent way. The G7 is likely to commit to avoid withdrawing COVID stimulus too early as well.

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

U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration has given the stalled talks fresh impetus by proposing a minimum global corporation tax rate of 15%, above the level in countries such as Ireland but below the lowest level in the G7.

“All countries face revenue loss when corporations don’t pay their share in taxes,” said Eric LeCompte, executive director of Jubilee USA, an alliance of organisations promoting debt relief.

“The G7 needs to support global tax reforms so we have resources for people to get beyond this pandemic,” he added.

Yet major disagreements 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 firms with lower profit margins, such as Amazon, face higher taxes.