Meeting in Washington on Friday 18 October, G20 Finance Ministers supported the proposal for a unified approach to the taxation of digital giants presented by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in early October to advance negotiations on international tax reform (see EUROPE 12345/11).
In a statement issued on Friday evening, the G20 welcomed the progress and the OECD Secretariat's efforts under the first pillar, which sets out the modalities for taxing the digital economy at the international level.
“We reaffirm our full support for a consensus-based solution with a final report to be delivered by the end of 2020”, G20 finance ministers said.
In order to meet this timetable, they are asking the Inclusive Framework on BEPS to approve the broad outlines of the overall rules architecture by January 2020 - a request in line with that made by the G7 Finance Ministers last July (see EUROPE 12299/10). It should be noted that, according to the statement, these guidelines will have to determine “the nature” and “interaction” between the two pillars.
With this support, the OECD will be able to start negotiations on its unified approach for Pillar I. These negotiations are already shaping up to be complex. “I can confirm to you we are making progress”, French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire told reporters on Thursday 17 October, while pointing out some issues that are still open.
The declaration also asks the OECD to brief the G20 again with an update on its work at its next meeting in February 2020. (Original version in French by Marion Fontana)