International talks to rewrite the rules of cross-border taxation are in the home stretch with a deal possible in the coming weeks, the French and German finance ministers said yesterday. Nearly 140 countries are negotiating how to update rules on taxing multinationals in the age of cross-border digital commerce and set a global minimum corporate tax rate. Any changes will have implications for Ireland which has enjoyed a boom in income from multinationals paying tax here in recent years, as use of tax havens to shift profits has been curtailed. Linking tax paid to where global businesses sell their products would hit reduce that Irish income by billions. German Finance Minister Olaf Scholz said talks were taking place almost every day at various levels as officials race to clinch a long-sought deal in July.

Source: Irish Independent May 27, 2021 01:30 UTC