French Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire insisted on Thursday that 2023 should remain the
"common goal"
for the implementation of the international agreement on taxation found at the OECD while acknowledging that this risked to be difficult on the aspect concerning the taxation of the digital giants.
Read also Global tax: why its implementation worries companies
The OECD announced last Friday an agreement between 136 countries on the global taxation of multinationals.
"2023 must remain our common goal for the concrete implementation of the international agreement on taxation,"
said the minister during an interview with AFP in Washington on the sidelines of the meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the Bank global.
On Wednesday, the G20 had indicated that the
"two new pillars will be operational by the end of 2023, beginning of 2024"
.
Two shutters
"There are two aspects: the taxation of digital giants and minimum taxation to avoid tax optimization"
, recalled the French minister.
“On the first part, to implement it, concretely the United States needs a two-thirds majority (in Congress). It will be difficult, we know that, ”
he stressed.
“We agree with US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen that as long as there is no US agreement, as long as there is no concrete implementation of this first pillar on digital taxation, France will keep its national digital taxation
, ”he added.
On the second part, namely, a minimum taxation of 15% on multinationals,
"things can go much faster and from 2023 we must be able to have the very concrete implementation of this pillar (...) which will avoid tax optimization, ”
he said.
