How can governments keep multinational companies from avoiding taxes by shifting profits to subsidiaries in low-tax countries?
Years of international discussion over the issue gathered momentum after U.S. President Joe Biden proposed a global minimum corporate tax rate of at least 15% and possibly higher. The Biden proposal has found support among the Group of Seven wealthy democracies, raising the prospect that a new approach to international taxation might be reached this year.
That, at least, is the goal set by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development in Paris, which is overseeing talks among more than 135 countries.
Here are some key questions:
What is a global minimum corporate tax? Countries would change their tax laws so that if their companies’ profits go untaxed or lightly taxed offshore, the company would face an additional, top-up tax back home to bring its rate up to the minimum.