The G7 countries, comprising the wealthiest nations on the planet, have committed to a global minimum corporate tax rate of “at least 15%”, according to a joint statement published on Saturday, June 5, following a two-day meeting in London.
The text also mentions the commitment to a better distribution of taxing rights of large multinationals’ profits, mainly digital and American companies.
As a result, companies will no longer be able to evade their tax obligations by cleverly shifting their profits to low-tax countries and pay negligible taxes despite profits of tens or even hundreds of billions of dollars.
The compromise reached between the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United States, and Canada towards a global tax reform provides significant momentum for the G20 meeting to be held in July in Venice, where a more concrete agreement is anticipated.
Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire stated that France had “won its case” in its fight against “tax evasion and optimization”. “In the coming months, we will fight for this minimum corporate tax rate to be as high as possible”, he added, noting that the 15% rate was “a starting point”.
