Concerned that multinational corporations are re-routing their revenues through low-tax jurisdictions, the leaders of the world’s 20 largest nations (G20) have accepted an Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) agreement on a global minimum corporate tax of 15%. The rules are expected to be implemented in 2023.
The agreement was reached by all of the leaders addressing the G20 conference in Rome. In October, 136 countries agreed on a minimum tax on multinational businesses such as Google, Amazon, Facebook, Microsoft, and Apple to make it more difficult for them to dodge taxation by opening headquarters in low-tax jurisdictions.
US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen stated that the support for the minimum tax would benefit US businesses and employees, despite the fact that the agreement means that many US-based corporations will pay more tax than they do today. “This agreement will remodel the world’s trade towards a more affluent place for American businesses and employees,” Yellen was quoted as saying in a global newswire report.
