G-7 agrees on at least 15 pc int’l common minimum corporate tax rate

London, Jun 5 (UNI) Finance ministers from the Group of Seven industrialized nations agreed on Saturday on a global minimum corporate tax rate of 15 per cent proposed by, the United States.

The decision at the first in-person G-7 finance ministers meet since 2019 is to implement a common minimum tax rate for globally operating companies, with the aim of preventing them from shifting profits to low-tax jurisdictions.

The discussions on international taxation are part of the multinational negotiations taking place under a project led by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, and the Group of 20 major economies, involving nearly 140 countries.

The member countries aim to reach a broad agreement at an in-person gathering of finance chiefs from the G-20 nations, which include China, India and Russia as well as the G-7, to be held in July in Italy, Japan’s Kyodo News reported quoting sources close to the matter.

The US proposal of the 15 per cent floor tax was presented during a meeting of an OECD steering group dealing with international tax issues in mid-May, according to the US Treasury Department.

There are expectations that a consensus by G-7 economies of Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States plus the European Union could lead to wider backing at OECD and G-20 talks.

Members of the international taxation project have also been talking about rules to enable governments to impose duties on global technology giants offering digital services, such as Google LLC and Apple Inc, based on their local revenue, even if they are not physically present in their countries, said Kyodo.