Faced with the current US administration’s decision to withdraw from the global minimum tax [initiative], Insurance Europe, the European federation for the insurance industry, has voiced its concern in a letter sent to European Commissioner for Climate, Net Zero and Clean Growth Wopke Hoekstra on Friday, 18 April (see EUROPE 13562/8).
It fears that the US administration will take retaliatory tax measures against residents of countries that apply rules the United States considers extraterritorial. Much like the European employers’ association BusinessEurope (see EUROPE 13622/26), the insurers’ federation believes, “Such a shift puts at risk the global competitiveness of European companies—including insurers—by exposing them to unreciprocated regulatory and fiscal burdens.”
Insurance Europe is asking the EU to raise the question of suspending the global minimum tax, to lead international discussions within the OECD and the G20 in order to ensure that future global tax rules are fair and do not put EU-based companies at a disadvantage, and to thoroughly reassess its position on the minimum tax.
If the global minimum tax is to continue, Insurance Europe calls for the rules to be significantly simplified.
Read the letter: https://aeur.eu/f/ghg (Original version in French by Anne Damiani)