55: What You Need To Know About The G20 & A New Global Minimum Tax Rate

The current G20 countries account for more than 80% of the world’s GDP, 75% of global trade, and 60% of the world’s population. This summer, all eyes will be on the G20 summit as they tackle issues related to the global minimum corporate tax and profit reallocation of multinational enterprises. In early June, members of the G7 reached an agreement that would establish a global minimum tax rate of at least 15% on multinational corporations. The intent of the deal is to stop the so-called “race to the bottom” in the international tax corporate world. Now, the G20 will meet and discuss these issues.

A global minimum tax rate would impact some of the world’s largest multinational corporations, and the G20 countries are set to discuss the proposed rate in July.

On today’s episode of the Taxgirl podcast, Kelly is joined by Mimi Song to comb through all the details about the upcoming G20 summit. As Chief Economist at CrossBorder Solutions, Mimi is responsible for managing client relationships and ensuring the successful completion of all work. At the original iteration, she served as Vice President, Professional Services. Following the sale to Thomson Reuters, Mimi was the Vice President at Duff & Phelps and served as the Head of Transfer Pricing at the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ.

Listen to Kelly and Mimi talk about G20 countries’ conversations regarding a global minimum corporate tax:

• What tax professionals will be talking about in regards to the upcoming G20 summit, and why it’s important.
• How G20 nations are coming together to create a more fair tax environment.
• When the G20 meets in July, they will primarily be looking at the details for the global minimum corporate tax proposed by the G7 in June.
• Is there any dissent between the world’s nations about approving a global minimum tax rate?
• How the concept of “tax morality” might play into the G20 conversations on the horizon.
• The weight that tech giants like Facebook, Amazon, and Apple can carry in conversations about minimum tax rates.
• Mimi estimates over 100 multinational corporations would be substantially affected by the proposed minimum tax rate.
• A few countries, like France, have recently rolled out some controversial unilateral digital services tax, how might those digital taxes be impacted in the wake of G20 decisions?
• Some multinational companies have established “headquarters” in other nations to take advantage of lower tax rates, so there may be some movement upon the establishment of a global corporate tax rate.
• Mimi shares her insight about why these conversations are happening now. Have they been on the horizon for a while, or do the G20 feel like a global tax rate is particularly timely?
• If the global minimum tax rate is approved by the G20 in July, how quickly would things move and change afterwards? Mimi expects some movement by April 2023, as stated in the proposal, but there will be a fair bit of complexity along the way.
• Different jurisdictions are seeking different “carve-outs” and exceptions for companies; Mimi says those kinds of conversations will likely be among the most heated during the G20.
• Corporate taxpayers love certainty. How should they be preparing now for any potential changes to come from a minimum tax rate?
• Some companies have been making noise about how a global minimum will “cost them more,” which could lead to trickling down to consumers. Should taxpayers be worried about paying more for Netflix next year, for example?

More about Kelly Phillips Erb:

Kelly is the creator and host of the Taxgirl podcast series. Kelly is a practicing tax attorney with considerable experience and knowledge. She works with taxpayers like you every day. One of the things that she does is help folks out of tax jams, and hopefully, keep others from getting into them.

Links mentioned:

Kelly’s Website – TaxgirlConnect with Mimi -- CrossBorders Solutions