Rich Nations 'near Deal' On Corporate Tax Pact

Some of the world's richest nations are within touching distance of a historic deal to close the net on large companies which do not pay their fair share of tax, France and Germany said on Friday after a day of talks in London.

Finance ministers from the Group of Seven rich nations are meeting in person for the first time since the start of the Covid pandemic, after US President Joe Biden's administration gave fresh impetus to stalled global tax talks this year.

Rich nations have struggled for years to agree a way to raise more tax from large multinationals such as Google, Amazon and Facebook, which often book profits in jurisdictions where they pay little or no tax.

"We are just one millimetre away from a historic agreement," French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire told the BBC.

German Finance Minister Olaf Scholz said he was "absolutely confident" that there would be an agreement by the time the meeting finishes on Saturday.

A deal could raise tens of billions of US dollars for governments at a time when coffers are empty after the coronavirus pandemic.

But major disagreements do remain on both the minimum rate at which companies should be taxed, and on how the rules will be drawn up to ensure that very large companies with lower profit margins, such as Amazon, face higher taxes.

The United States has proposed a minimum global corporation tax rate of 15 percent, above the level in countries such as Ireland but below the lowest level in the G7.

Le Maire said this represented "only a starting point".

"We need something that is credible," he added. "We are still working on this very tricky point of the rate."

Britain said talks on tax policy had been productive but differences remained. Discussions will continue over dinner. (Reuters)