Let's come together to tax tech giants, say G20 officials eyeing $100 billion boost
Skip to main content
  • Home
  • Economy
    • Aviation
    • Bazaar
    • Budget
    • Industry
    • NBR
    • RMG
    • Corporates
  • Stocks
  • Analysis
  • World+Biz
  • Sports
  • Features
    • Book Review
    • Brands
    • Earth
    • Explorer
    • Fact Check
    • Family
    • Food
    • Game Reviews
    • Good Practices
    • Habitat
    • Humour
    • In Focus
    • Luxury
    • Mode
    • Panorama
    • Pursuit
    • Wealth
    • Wellbeing
    • Wheels
  • Epaper
  • More
    • Subscribe
    • Videos
    • Thoughts
    • Splash
    • Bangladesh
    • Supplement
    • Infograph
    • Archive
    • COVID-19
    • Games
    • Long Read
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Podcast
    • Quiz
    • Tech
    • Trial By Trivia
    • Magazine
  • বাংলা
The Business Standard

Saturday
February 04, 2023

Sign In
Subscribe
  • Home
  • Economy
    • Aviation
    • Bazaar
    • Budget
    • Industry
    • NBR
    • RMG
    • Corporates
  • Stocks
  • Analysis
  • World+Biz
  • Sports
  • Features
    • Book Review
    • Brands
    • Earth
    • Explorer
    • Fact Check
    • Family
    • Food
    • Game Reviews
    • Good Practices
    • Habitat
    • Humour
    • In Focus
    • Luxury
    • Mode
    • Panorama
    • Pursuit
    • Wealth
    • Wellbeing
    • Wheels
  • Epaper
  • More
    • Subscribe
    • Videos
    • Thoughts
    • Splash
    • Bangladesh
    • Supplement
    • Infograph
    • Archive
    • COVID-19
    • Games
    • Long Read
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Podcast
    • Quiz
    • Tech
    • Trial By Trivia
    • Magazine
  • বাংলা
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 04, 2023
Let's come together to tax tech giants, say G20 officials eyeing $100 billion boost

Tech

Reuters
22 February, 2020, 06:35 pm
Last modified: 22 February, 2020, 06:38 pm

Related News

  • Tax-GDP ratio to increase with duty exemption cutbacks: NBR official
  • PM likely to attend G20 Summit in New Delhi September
  • Stop gas wastage, reduce VAT-tax for entrepreneurs
  • FM likely to visit New Delhi March 1-2
  • Putin requests clarifying methodology for oil price determination in taxation by 1 March

Let's come together to tax tech giants, say G20 officials eyeing $100 billion boost

Reuters
22 February, 2020, 06:35 pm
Last modified: 22 February, 2020, 06:38 pm
Photo :Reuters
Photo :Reuters

Leading world economies must show unity in dealing with aggressive "tax optimization" by global digital giants like Google, Amazon and Facebook, G20 officials said on Saturday. 

Global rules are being developed by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) to make digital companies pay tax where they do business, rather than where they register subsidiaries. The OECD says this could boost national tax revenues by a total of $100 billion a year.

The call for unity appeared mainly directed at the United States, home to the biggest tech companies, in an attempt to head off any stalling on the rules until after the US presidential election in November.

"There is no time to wait for elections," German Finance Minister Olaf Scholz told a tax seminar on the sidelines of a meeting of G20 finance ministers and central bankers.

"This needs leadership in certain countries," Scholz said, looking directly at US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, sitting next to him at the seminar.

The taxing of digital firms and the effect of the coronavirus outbreak on the global economy are among the hot topics being debated by G20 financial leaders, from the world's 20 largest economies, during their talks in Riyadh this weekend.

The OECD wants to set a minimum effective level at which such companies would be taxed and seeks agreement by the start of July, with an endorsement by the G20 by the end of the year.

"A coordinated answer is not the better way forward, but, given the alternatives, the only way forward," OECD head Angel Gurria told the seminar.

But the OECD efforts were stalled late last year by last-minute changes demanded by Washington, which many G20 officials view as reluctant to deal with a potentially politically tricky matter before the presidential election.

Mnuchin said OECD countries were close to an agreement on the minimum tax level, which he said would also go a long way to resolving the issue of where tax is payed.

"I think we all want to get this done by the end of the year, and that's the objective," Mnuchin told the seminar.

Mnuchin sought to reassure G20 delegates that a US proposal to add a "safe harbor" regime to the tax reform effort — which has drawn criticism from France and other countries - would not let companies simply opt out of paying taxes.

"It's not an optional tax," he said. "You pay the safe harbor as opposed to paying something else. People may pay a little bit more in a safe harbor knowing they have tax certainty."

US officials say their proposal would allow a multinational enterprise to elect to pay more foreign tax in exchange for enhanced tax dispute resolution benefits and administrative relief. But many questions remain.

MORE CLARITY NEEDED

French Finance Minster Bruno Le Maire told reporters it remained unclear exactly what the US proposal would entail.

"We're still in the process of assessing what it really means," he said, adding, "It's not a non-starter for the French government. It's fair and useful to give all the attention to this new proposal."

European Union Economy Commissioner Paolo Gentiloni told Reuters there was still hard work ahead.

"It's good that there is a commitment to find a solution, but ... it's not there," he said, adding that he would meet with Mnuchin for bilateral talks later Saturday.

Scholz told reporters Germany remained sceptical. "I think we shouldn't start with letting companies choose which taxes they want to pay. This is leading to nowhere," he said.

Several European countries, including France, Spain, Austria, Italy, Britain and Hungary either already have a plan for a digital tax or are working on one, creating the risk of a highly fragmented global system.

"You cannot have in a global economy different national tax systems that conflict with each other," Mnuchin said.

Facebook Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg said on Feb. 14 he would be ready to pay more tax in Europe and would welcome a global OECD solution that would make the levies uniform.

tax / G20 / Facebook / google / Amazon

Comments

While most comments will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive, moderation decisions are subjective. Published comments are readers’ own views and The Business Standard does not endorse any of the readers’ comments.

Top Stories

  • Is the IMF to blame for growing pressure on your wallet?
    Is the IMF to blame for growing pressure on your wallet?
  • Dr Salehuddin Ahmed. Illustration: TBS
    Reforms in banking must to sustain financial sector
  • Why 2012 reforms were not done is a million-dollar question
    Why 2012 reforms were not done is a million-dollar question

MOST VIEWED

  • Photo: Collected
    ChatGPT in spotlight as EU's Breton bats for tougher AI rules
  • Photo: Collected
    OpenAI launches ChatGPT subscription plan for $20 per month
  • Photo: Collected
    ChatGPT: the promises, pitfalls and panic
  • Rendered images by DALL-E 2 from the text prompt: “a hydrogen fueled plane, digital art.”
    Could hydrogen-powered aeroplanes be the future of aviation?
  • Illustration: TBS
    AI tools beyond ChatGPT and DALL-E 2
  • Twitter says users will be able to appeal account suspension
    Twitter says users will be able to appeal account suspension

Related News

  • Tax-GDP ratio to increase with duty exemption cutbacks: NBR official
  • PM likely to attend G20 Summit in New Delhi September
  • Stop gas wastage, reduce VAT-tax for entrepreneurs
  • FM likely to visit New Delhi March 1-2
  • Putin requests clarifying methodology for oil price determination in taxation by 1 March

Features

Andy Mukherjee. Sketch: TBS

What makes India's billionaires' support special for Adani

13h | Panorama
Photo: Rejaul Hafiz Rahi

A jackal farewell

14h | Earth
The trio spearheading the revival of book cover designs

The trio spearheading the revival of book cover designs

15h | Panorama
Six Jeep Wranglers and a special XJ Jeep Cherokee set out into the depths of Lalakhal, Sylhet for an experience of a lifetime. Photo: Ahbaar Mohammad

Jeep Life Bangladesh: A club for Jeep owners to harness the power of their vehicles

1d | Wheels

More Videos from TBS

A proper price formula can help investors to plan big

A proper price formula can help investors to plan big

1d | TBS Round Table
Rumors about Sarika that everyone thinks are true

Rumors about Sarika that everyone thinks are true

1d | TBS Entertainment
Mugging rife in Tejgaon, murder in Wari

Mugging rife in Tejgaon, murder in Wari

1d | TBS Current Affairs
What secrets are hidden behind Adani's wealth?

What secrets are hidden behind Adani's wealth?

1d | TBS Stories

Most Read

1
Bapex calls candidates for job test 9 years after advert!
Bangladesh

Bapex calls candidates for job test 9 years after advert!

2
Leepu realised his love for cars from a young age and for the last 40 years, he has transformed, designed and customised hundreds of cars. Photo: Collected
Panorama

'I am not crazy about cars anymore': Nizamuddin Awlia Leepu

3
Photo: Collected
Energy

8 Ctg power plants out of production

4
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) logo is seen outside the headquarters building in Washington, U.S., September 4, 2018. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas/File Photo
Economy

IMF approves $4.7 billion loan for Bangladesh, calls for ambitious reforms

5
Photo: Collected
Court

Japanese mother gets guardianship of daughters, free to leave country

6
Fund cut as Dhaka's fast-track transit projects on slow spending lane
Infrastructure

Fund cut as Dhaka's fast-track transit projects on slow spending lane

EMAIL US
[email protected]
FOLLOW US
WHATSAPP
+880 1847416158
The Business Standard
  • About Us
  • Contact us
  • Sitemap
  • Privacy Policy
  • Comment Policy
Copyright © 2023
The Business Standard All rights reserved
Technical Partner: RSI Lab

Contact Us

The Business Standard

Main Office -4/A, Eskaton Garden, Dhaka- 1000

Phone: +8801847 416158 - 59

Send Opinion articles to - [email protected]

For advertisement- [email protected]