WASHINGTON (thehill): Top finance officials in the Group of Seven (G-7) on Saturday announced their commitment to push for a global minimum tax of at least 15 percent in international tax negotiations, a rate advocated by the Biden administration.
G-7 finance ministers and central bank governors said in a statement following a meeting in London that they strongly support the multilateral negotiations “to address the tax challenges arising from globalisation and the digitalisation of the economy and to adopt a global minimum tax.”
The G-7 consists of the United States, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United Kingdom.
The announcement is in line with the priorities of the Biden administration, which proposed a global minimum tax rate of 15 percent last month. The G-7 finance officials said in their statement that they would push for the rate to apply on a country-by-country basis.
The Biden administration sees a deal on a global minimum tax as a way to help prevent U.S. companies from becoming less competitive if the U.S. increases its corporate taxes. President Biden has proposed paying for his infrastructure plan in part by raising the U.S. corporate tax rate from 21 percent to 28 percent and by raising a U.S. tax on corporations’ foreign earnings to 21 percent.
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen praised the G-7 announcement.
“That global minimum tax would end the race-to-the-bottom in corporate taxation, and ensure fairness for the middle class and working people in the U.S. and around the world,” she said in a statement. “The global minimum tax would also help the global economy thrive, by leveling the playing field for businesses and encouraging countries to compete on positive bases, such as educating and training our work forces and investing in research and development and infrastructure.”
