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International tax debate moves from digital focus to global minimum
Article

International tax debate moves from digital focus to global minimum

International corporate tax reform is coming closer if countries can set aside their differences and work for progress rather than the perfect deal.

Rebecca Christie
Bruegel, 2021
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Achieving broad global agreement on corporate taxation hasn’t been easy. National priorities and political rigidities stymie the ability to reach common ground, but recent reports that the G7 countries have agreed to a 15% minimum global tax rate indicate that progress is possible. In this insightful analysis, issued just days before the G7 announcement, policy expert Rebecca Christie offers business professionals some important highlights of the OECD’s tax plan.

Summary

Opinions differ on ways to increase global corporate tax revenue.

The OECD’s 2015 Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) tax information database was a substantial step forward in combating corporate profit shifting from high- to low-tax countries. Efforts, though, were fragmented, as national governments separately sought transnational tax revenue bonanzas from the likes of tech giants Microsoft, Facebook, Apple and Amazon. 

The OECD broadened the focus to encompass the largest, most profitable firms. The idea is to obligate companies with earnings in places where they have no brick-and-mortar presence...

About the Author

Rebecca Christie is a nonresident fellow at Bruegel.

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