The leaders of the G7 countries endorsed, during their 11-13 June summit at the UK resort of Carbis Bay, the “historic commitment” made by their finance ministers on 5 June, on international tax reform (see EUROPE 12735/15).
“We will now continue the discussion to reach consensus on a global agreement on an equitable solution on the allocation of taxing rights and an ambitious global minimum tax of at least 15 per cent on a country-by-country basis, through the G20/OECD inclusive framework”, they wrote in the final communiqué issued at the end of the summit, on Sunday 13 June.
The next major step is the G20 Finance meeting on 9-10 July, before a final agreement is expected at the G20 Summit in October.
In a press conference on Thursday 10 June, before the start of the G7 summit, the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, said that in matters of taxation, “the devil is in the detail” and that “this does not mean that the message given at the start of the G7 summit solves all the questions that will be asked”.
While supporting the international negotiations, the European Commission has reiterated that it does not intend to abandon its future proposal for a digital levy (see EUROPE 12685/25).
“Digital levy and the proposal to have the 100 most successful companies with a specific levy, those two are not conflicting, they are more complementary”, stated, on Thursday, the President of the Commission, Ursula von der Leyen.
The race for exemptions
At this stage, several G20 countries have publicly indicated their support for the agreement, such as South Africa, Mexico and Indonesia.
Others, on the other hand, reserved their agreement on the condition of having certain exemptions. According to Reuters, this is particularly the case with China, which is reportedly opposed to a minimum tax rate of 15 per cent and is demanding exemptions in exchange for its support. On digital taxation, the UK is also seeking an exemption for its financial sector.
On the EU side, Poland and Hungary have stated that they will not support the proposed global minimum tax unless there is provision to protect important business activities on their territory.
See the G7 final communiqué: https://bit.ly/3q2G6pX (Original version in French by Marion Fontana)