BERLIN – Germany and France today voiced support for a call by the United States to impose a global minimum corporate tax of 21%, a move that targets huge multinationals like Amazon and Google.
“People are fed up with big companies for not paying their fair share of taxes,” French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire told Die Zeit weekly.
The minister said his country has suggested 12.5%, but if the rate mooted by Washington “is the outcome of negotiations, then we would also agree to it”.
German Finance Minister Olaf Scholz in the joint interview said he has “nothing against the US suggestion”.
Washington announced early this month the push for concerted action on a minimum tax rate targeting multinationals, to ensure digital giants like Amazon pay their fair share of taxes in countries where they are generating revenues.
United States President Joe Biden expressed outrage that many of the world’s biggest companies have moved to tax havens or used loopholes and pay little to no tax, far less than some individuals.
Scholz said there is “now the right momentum to reach a deal in the summer” given the US push.
France in 2019 enacted a digital tax of up to 3% of turnover, pending the adoption of international taxation.
Le Maire reiterated that France will withdraw the tax once there is an international deal.
“But let me be very clear that if there is no international agreement, we will keep to it.”
The French tax move on global digital companies made it a pioneer in the struggle to find a fair fiscal system for internet multinationals, whose tax bill is often tiny compared to their income. – AFP, April 27, 2021
