France and Germany support the United States’ proposal to introduce a global minimum tax on corporate profits at 21%, the finance ministers of the two countries announced in an interview published on Tuesday (April 27). in the weekly Die zeit. This is the first time that the two governments have spoken of their support for such a floor rate.
“People are fed up with big business not paying their fair share of taxes”Frenchman Bruno Le Maire told the German newspaper. France had recently mentioned a tax rate of 12.5%, he recalled. But if the 21% rate suggested by Washington “Was the result of negotiations, we would agree”, he added.
His German counterpart, Olaf Scholz, said for his part that he had “Nothing personally” against the American proposal. The two ministers said they were confident about a deal ” this summer “ on the subject at the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).
Negotiations are underway within the OECD to achieve a system of minimum international taxation of companies and to put an end to the fiscal dumping they engage in around the world. The project has been supported for several weeks by the United States, which is seeking to raise their corporate taxation to finance a massive infrastructure plan. The goal is above all to increase the contribution of digital companies, accused of evading tax thanks to the differences in taxation between countries.
European directive
If the negotiations are successful, France has already said that it would adopt a European directive on the subject in the first half of 2022, during the French presidency of the Union. His minister also warned that he “Would withdraw” the GAFA tax in the event of success. This tax on digital companies, mainly American, has been a subject of tension between France and the United States in recent years. In case of failure, “We will keep it”, he added. In mid-April, the European Commissioner for the Internal Market, Thierry Breton, welcomed the American proposal as a “Elegant solution”.
Such an agreement could bring more than 100 billion dollars (84 billion euros) into state coffers each year, severely strained by the Covid-19 pandemic and the shutdown of the global economy. .