130 countries have agreed on a tax rate of "at least 15 percent"

Breakthrough in the negotiations on a worldwide minimum tax for large corporations: According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), 130 countries have agreed on a tax rate of "at least 15 percent". The states represent 90 percent of the world economy. Federal Finance Minister Olaf Scholz spoke of "colossal progress in the area of ​​international corporate taxation". "It is probably the biggest breakthrough in the world in the area of ​​fair taxation in the last ten or 20 years," said the SPD politician during a visit to the US capital, Washington. The tax race "downwards" between different countries is "over". "We as democratic states now have the opportunity to decide for ourselves the right amount of fair and appropriate taxation," said Scholz. From now on, states "do not always have to keep one eye on the fact that there are tax havens and tax evaders elsewhere". This will also lead to higher tax revenues in Germany. US President Joe Biden said the deal would make the world economy "fairer for working class and middle-class families in the US and around the world". US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen spoke of a "historic day for economic diplomacy". France's Minister of Economic Affairs, Bruno Le Maire, praised the deal as the most important international tax agreement in a century. At the beginning of June, the finance ministers of the major industrialized countries of the G7 group committed themselves to the goal of a global corporate tax of at least 15 percent for multinational corporations. They now want to enforce this on a global level in order to end unfair tax competition between states. The finance ministers of the G20 group from industrialized nations and large emerging countries will discuss the issue in Venice next week. The implementation of a worldwide minimum taxation for large companies is likely to be a tedious undertaking in the end. There is also resistance in some states. Ireland and Hungary, for example, have not signed the OECD agreement. Ireland has a minimum tax rate of 12.5 percent and thus attracted the European branches of US technology companies such as Facebook, Google and Apple. The nominal rates in Hungary and Bulgaria are even lower. Most recently there were reports of possible exceptions for the financial center of London. Scholz now rejected this: "It is very clear: the minimum taxation takes place for everyone and without exception."