PARIS – A global deal on corporate tax should be completed before the end of this month, top EU officials told CNBC Wednesday.
Global governments have been involved in tough negotiations to bring a handful of nations in line with a international deal on corporate tax. The G-7 and G-20 nations backed an agreement earlier in the summer that, if implemented, would force multinationals to pay tax where they operate — and not just where they have their headquarters – and impose a minimum corporate rate of 15%.
Some nations, notably Hungary and Ireland, where corporate tax is below 15%, had raised doubts about the agreement. However, discussions led by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development seem to be baring fruit.
Bruno Le Maire, the French Finance Minister, told CNBC Wednesday that “we are one millimeter away from a global agreement on a new international taxation system for the 21st century.”
“I’m fully determined to pave the way for a consensus,” he said in Paris.
“The key point is to have an agreement being adopted, no later than the end of this month, on the new international taxation system.” He later added: “We could either next week during the Washington meetings, or at the G-20 meeting in Rome at the end of October, sign the final agreement under the international taxation system.”
