The Trump administration had insisted on a so-called safe harbour clause in the OECD tax that effectively would have allowed big tech companies to comply voluntarily, blocking progress on a deal. U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen told her G20 colleagues on February 26 that Washington is dropping a push for a controversial provision in a global digital tax, opening the door to a likely agreement. The Trump administration had insisted on a so-called safe harbour clause in the OECD tax that effectively would have allowed big tech companies to comply voluntarily, blocking progress on a deal. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development has been working on a multilateral agreement that would include a global minimum corporate tax rate on tech giants. Paris suspended collection of the digital services tax through the end of 2020 amid the OECD talks.

Source: The Hindu February 27, 2021 02:37 UTC