G-7 nations sign key pact to make tech giants pay fair taxes

LONDON: The world's richest countries signed a landmark agreement Saturday committing them to confronting corporate tax avoidance and making sure that giant tech companies pay their fair share, Britain's treasury chief said.

Rishi Sunak, chancellor of the exchequer, said finance ministers from the Group of Seven leading industrialised nations signed the pact on the second and final day of meetings in London.

"I'm delighted to announce that G-7 finance ministers today, after years of discussions, have reached a historic agreement to reform the global tax system to make it fit for the global digital age and crucially to make sure that it's fair, so that the right companies pay the right tax in the right places," Sunak said in a video message posted on Twitter.

The G-7 ministers agreed in principle to a global minimum tax rate of 15 per cent for multinational companies in each country they operate in.

The G7 Finance Ministers have made a significant, unprecedented commitment today that provides tremendous momentum towards achieving a robust global minimum tax at a rate of at least 15%.

— Secretary Janet Yellen (@SecYellen) June 5, 2021

US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, who attended the London meetings, said the agreement "provides tremendous momentum" towards reaching a global 15 per cent rate that "would end the race-to-the-bottom in corporate taxation, and ensure fairness for the middle class and working people in the US and around the world." 

The meeting of finance ministers came ahead of an annual summit of G-7 leaders scheduled for June 11-13 in Carbis Bay, Cornwall. The UK is hosting both sets of meetings because it holds the group's rotating presidency.

The G-7 has also been facing pressure to provide vaccines for low-income countries facing new surges of COVID-19 infections and to finance projects to combat climate change.

International discussions on the tax issue gained momentum after US President Joe Biden backed the idea of a global minimum 15 per cent corporate profit tax rate.

The proposal also found support among other major economies such as France and Germany.

Nations have been grappling with the question of how to deter companies from legally avoiding tax by resorting to tax havens typically small countries that entice companies with low or zero taxes, even though the firms do little actual business there.

They've also been trying to solve the related problem of taxing internet-based companies doing business in countries where they have no physical presence and thus pay little or no tax.

The endorsement from the G-7 could help build momentum for a deal in wider talks among more than 140 countries being held in Paris as well as a Group of 20 finance ministers meeting in Venice in July.