15% tax rate for multinationals in France
French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said Tuesday a deal on a minimum tax rate of 15 percent for multinational firms is possible, days before an international meeting on the issue.
A breakthrough in efforts to stem multinationals' ability to slash taxes by shifting revenues through nations with low rates came in July, when more than 130 states agreed to a minimum 15-percent rate.
But a number of countries, including in particular Ireland, have held up the reaching of a consensus and fuelled speculation that the minimum rate could be lowered to reach a deal.
"A compromise might be reached around a 15 percent effective tax rate," Le Maire said in a conference call.
That "would eliminate attractive effective tax rates on the order of two, five or six percent that are offered by certain countries, including in the European Union," he added.
The July breakthrough envisaged the minimum 15 percent tax rate would apply to multinationals with at least 750 million euros in sales, which in practice means many big tech firms would be hit.
Ireland, which has attracted the European headquarters of many international firms with a 12.5 percent corporate tax rate that in practice can be lowered, has so far resisted a compromise.
"It will be difficult to go above" 15 percent without losing the holdouts completely, a source close to the talks told AFP.
The other pillar of the reform would give countries a share of the taxes on profits earned in their territory.
The objective of the Friday meeting under the auspices of the OECD, which has been shepherding the talks, is to bring on board the holdouts that include Hungary and Estonia as well as Ireland, to allow the minimum tax rate to go into effect in 2023.
A number of countries are ready to move forward with national taxes targeting tech firms if a minimum tax deal is not reached on an international level. -Nampa/AFP
A breakthrough in efforts to stem multinationals' ability to slash taxes by shifting revenues through nations with low rates came in July, when more than 130 states agreed to a minimum 15-percent rate.
But a number of countries, including in particular Ireland, have held up the reaching of a consensus and fuelled speculation that the minimum rate could be lowered to reach a deal.
"A compromise might be reached around a 15 percent effective tax rate," Le Maire said in a conference call.
That "would eliminate attractive effective tax rates on the order of two, five or six percent that are offered by certain countries, including in the European Union," he added.
The July breakthrough envisaged the minimum 15 percent tax rate would apply to multinationals with at least 750 million euros in sales, which in practice means many big tech firms would be hit.
Ireland, which has attracted the European headquarters of many international firms with a 12.5 percent corporate tax rate that in practice can be lowered, has so far resisted a compromise.
"It will be difficult to go above" 15 percent without losing the holdouts completely, a source close to the talks told AFP.
The other pillar of the reform would give countries a share of the taxes on profits earned in their territory.
The objective of the Friday meeting under the auspices of the OECD, which has been shepherding the talks, is to bring on board the holdouts that include Hungary and Estonia as well as Ireland, to allow the minimum tax rate to go into effect in 2023.
A number of countries are ready to move forward with national taxes targeting tech firms if a minimum tax deal is not reached on an international level. -Nampa/AFP
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