PARIS (Reuters) – Global talks to rewrite the rules for taxing cross-border business are at a critical phase and a compromise is possible on a minimum corporate tax rate of 15%, French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said on Tuesday.
Until now 134 out of 140 countries in the talks had backed a minimum rate of “at least” 15%, but Ireland, which has lower taxes compared to others, has so far refused to sign up over concern the rate could end up being higher than 15%.
Le Maire told journalists that while a compromise on 15% was possible, there remained a major blocking point over how big a deduction from the global minimum should be possible for multinationals based on their assets and payroll in foreign markets.
(Reporting by Leigh Thomas; Editing by Sudip Kar-Gupta)
