VENICE: Finance ministers from the G20 gathered on Saturday for a second day of talks in Venice, where they are expected to give the green light to a “revolutionary” deal to tax multinational companies more fairly. A framework for global tax reform, including a minimum corporate rate of 15 percent, was agreed by 131 countries earlier this month. It aims to prevent a race to the bottom as countries compete to offer the lowest tax rates to attract investment, with many multinationals as a result paying derisory levels of tax. “If there is a deal today, there is no turning back. It will be implemented. . . it”s a kind of tax revolution,” French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said. He earlier told media that the minimum tax rate, which could be in place by 2023, “must be ambitious”, with his country, the United States and Germany among several nations pressing for a higher rate. But finance ministers and central bankers from the G20 — the countries with the 19 biggest economies and the European Union — are not expected to go further than the 15 percent agreed on July 1. – ”On the way” – Final agreement is not expected until the run-up to the G20 leaders” summit in Rome in October. But the Venice talks have been an opportunity to thrash out further details and exert pressure on those that have not yet signed up to the deal, struck under the auspices of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) — a club of 38 wealthy economies. Aid agencies including Oxfam also argue that 15 percent is too low, but some nations are opposed even to this, including EU member Ireland, which lured Apple and Google to Dublin with its low tax rates.
