International Tax Agreement: Establishing Fair Distribution

Published in Kyoto Shinbun
(Japan) on 13 October 2021
by (link to originallink to original)
Translated from by Dani Long. Edited by Gillian Palmer.
International taxation rules will see the first major reform in 100 years.

Last week, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development announced the introduction of a “digital tax” to prevent tax evasion by multinational corporations like IT giants. They also announced an agreement between 136 countries and regions to strengthen international taxation with a minimum tax rate of 15%.

It is expected to be confirmed at the Group of 20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors’ Meeting held on Oct. 13. The taxation plans are scheduled to go into effect in 2023.

These reforms should be welcomed because they will “ensure that profitable corporations pay their fair share, and provide governments with the resources to invest in their workers and economies,” according to United States President Joe Biden.

The digital tax is a system in which businesses without physical locations such as office buildings or stores can be taxed in countries or regions in which the business’s users are located.

This system would change the present situation, in which corporations such as American tech giants Google, Apple, Facebook and Amazon make huge profits, but do not pay the corresponding amount in taxes.

The tax program targets multinational companies with worldwide sales exceeding 2.6 trillion yen (approximately $22.8 billion). Such companies with a profit ratio that exceeds 10% will be subject to the new rules with 25% of the profit above the 10% threshold to be reallocated in proportion to the sales in each country.

The establishment of a minimum tax rate of 15% is an effort to stop competition to lure in businesses by lowering taxation as well as making it difficult to evade taxes.

Both of these efforts seek to address taxation deficiencies and differences in taxation between countries, as well as pursue equality in international taxation.

Hopefully, these reforms will proceed steadily.

The agreement was able to be reached because countries such as the United Kingdom and France abolished their respective independently established digital tax policies, and because Ireland agreed to raise its minimum corporate tax from 12.5% to the agreed 15%.

So to speak, these reforms are the product of compromise from each nation involved.

A multinational treaty will be signed to confirm implementation, but there are rumors that there will be resistance from some nations' domestic approval process.

Regarding the United States, whose IT giants are a target of the reforms, experts point out that “if ratification in Congress takes time, implementation of a digital tax may not be possible.”

Careful steps should be taken to achieve a realization of this agreement.


約100年ぶりに、国際的な課税ルールの大改革が行われることになった。

 経済協力開発機構(OECD)が先週、巨大IT企業など多国籍企業の税逃れを防ぐ「デジタル課税」の導入や、各国共通の最低法人税率を15%とする国際課税の強化で最終合意に至った、と発表した。2023年から実施する予定にしている。

 136カ国・地域が合意した。きょう開かれる20カ国・地域(G20)財務相・中央銀行総裁会議でも追認される見通しだ。

 大改革によって「利益を上げる企業が公平な分配を行い、政府が労働者や経済に投資する資源を得る」(バイデン米大統領)というのだから、歓迎すべきだろう。

 デジタル課税は、社屋や店舗といった拠点のない企業にも、ユーザーのいる国・地域ならば課税できる制度である。

「GAFA」と呼ばれる米巨大IT企業などが膨大な利益を得ているのに、相応の税金を払っていない現状を変更する。

 全世界での売上高が約2兆6千億円を超えるなどした多国籍企業が対象となり、利益率が10%を超える部分の25%が、各国の売上高に応じて配分される。

 最低法人税率を15%に定めるのは、一部の国が低い税率を掲げて企業を呼び込む誘致合戦をやめさせ、租税回避をしにくくする取り組みだ。

 いずれも、税制の不備や各国間での税率の違いを是正し、国際的に公正な課税を追求する。日本にとっても、GAFAなどからの税収が増え、海外への企業流出が減る可能性がありそうだ。

 これらの改革が、着実に進んでいくことを望みたい。

 今回、最終合意に至ったのは、英国やフランスなどが独自に設けたデジタル課税を廃止することにしたり、各国共通の最低法人税率を最低水準に近い15%にとどめ、低税率を掲げるアイルランドなどに配慮したりしたからである。

 いわば、各国の妥協の産物といえよう。

 実施に向けて、多国間条約を結んでいくことになるが、今後は各国内の承認手続きが難航する可能性もささやかれている。

 自国の巨大IT企業が改革の対象となっている米国について、専門家は「議会での批准に時間がかかれば、デジタル課税は実現できない恐れがある」と指摘する。

 合意を実現するため、入念な根回しをしてもらいたい。
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