The 137 member countries of the OECD failed to find an agreement on the taxation of large digital companies before the end of 2020, the deadline given to it by the G20, at the risk of leading to a proliferation of unilateral initiatives.
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"
The glass is half full: the package is almost ready but a political agreement is missing
," Pascal Saint-Amans, head of tax policy at the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, acknowledged Monday, referring in particular to the blockade of the United States, cradle of several digital behemoths.
In the absence of a formal agreement, the countries adopted a report which defines the overall framework of this reform, which should define new rules so that "
large profitable companies operating internationally pay their fair share of tax in the jurisdiction where they make profits,
”according to the OECD.
It also provides for the establishment of a global minimum tax rate, which could be set at 12.5%.
This roadmap will be presented on Wednesday to the finance ministers of the G20 countries, which gave the OECD mandate in 2018 to reform an international tax system rendered obsolete by the emergence of GAFA (acronym designating Google, Amazon, Facebook and Apple ) and others.
The outbreak of the global Covid-19 crisis and the decision of the United States in June to suspend its participation in these discussions until the presidential election on November 3 explain the delay in the discussions, according to Pascal Saint-Amans .
However, he does not hide that, "
despite these exceptional circumstances, there is a lot of sensitivities and impatience, and the temptation to take unilateral measures in the face of a measure which will take years to be applied
".
France paved the way by adopting in July 2019 a tax on digital giants, which has applied since January 1, 2019. Faced with threats of American retaliation, Paris has decided to suspend its application but warned that 'in the absence of an international agreement by the end of the year, it would take it.
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She also warned that in the event of an impasse in the negotiations at the OECD, the European Union should take up the subject.
At their last summit in July, the European Council asked the Commission to present a “
digital license fee
” proposal in the first half of 2021
.
