Large global companies such as Google, Amazon, Facebook and Apple are taxed at a minimum rate of 15 percent, according to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).
German Finance Minister Olaf Schulz has long fought for an international tax agreement.
Photo: Mandel Ngan/AFP
The agreement is a major step towards greater fairness in tax legislation, according to German Finance Minister Olaf Schulz.
In the future, large corporations will pay their fair share when it comes to financing our common well-being, he says.
Ireland not listed
US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen describes the agreement as historic. The agreement is in line with what the G7 countries agreed earlier this year.
The plan to introduce the new rules will be completed in October.
Nine OECD countries are not part of the agreement. Among the countries not included in the agreement are Ireland and Hungary.
Both countries have low corporate taxes, and many tech companies with offices in Ireland have favorable tax terms.
digital society
The plan modernizes key elements of a hundred-year-old international tax system that is no longer relevant in a globalized and digitalized society, according to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development.
The plan is twofold.
First, it will ensure stability in the international tax system and ensure a more equitable distribution of taxes in different countries.
Then there is the introduction of a global minimum income tax for large corporations of at least 15%. This will result in about $150 billion, equivalent to about 1.3 trillion kroner, in additional annual tax revenue globally.
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