G7 agrees to avoid higher taxes for US and UK companies
WASHINGTON: The United States and the Group of Seven (G7) nations have agreed to support a proposal that would exempt US companies from some components of an existing global agreement, the G7 said in a statement on Saturday.
The group has created a "side-by-side" system in response to the US administration agreeing to scrap the Section 899 retaliatory tax proposal from President Donald Trump's tax and spending bill, it said in a statement from Canada, the head of the rolling G7 presidency.
The G7 said the plan recognises existing US minimum tax laws and aims to bring more stability to the international tax system.
The US Treasury Department said that following the removal of Section 899 from the US Senate version of the tax and spending bill, there is a shared understanding that a side-by-side system could preserve important gains made by jurisdictions inside the Inclusive Framework in tackling base erosion and profit shifting.
"We look forward to discussing and developing this understanding within the Inclusive Framework," the department said in a post on X on Saturday.
UK businesses are also spared higher taxes after the removal of Section 899 from President Donald Trump's tax and spending bill.
Britain said businesses would benefit from greater certainty and stability following the agreement. Some British businesses had in recent weeks said they were worried about paying substantial additional tax due to the inclusion of Section 899, which has now been removed. "Today's agreement provides much-needed certainty and stability for those businesses after they had raised their concerns," Finance Minister Rachel Reeves said in a statement, adding that more work was needed to tackle aggressive tax planning and avoidance.
G7 officials said they look forward to discussing a solution that is "acceptable and implementable to all".
In January, through an executive order, Trump declared that the global corporate minimum tax deal was not applicable in the US, effectively pulling out of the landmark 2021 arrangement negotiated by the Biden administration with nearly 140 countries.
He also vowed to impose a retaliatory tax against countries that impose taxes on US firms under the 2021 global tax agreement. This tax was considered detrimental to many foreign companies operating in the US.
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