The G20 finance ministers approved this weekend the principle of a global minimum tax for companies.
The rate must be greater than 15%, at least.
But this agreement, a revolution when we know the extent of the phenomenon, will it be able to put an end to tax havens, which offer tax bonuses to attract large companies?
The finance ministers of the G20 and 131 countries officially endorsed this weekend the principle of a global minimum tax for companies. A decision that is a heavy blow to tax havens.
Yes, Cayman Islands, Bahamas, Switzerland, Luxembourg but also Ireland or the Netherlands ... All these countries, large or small, have built part of their prosperity on the tax avoidance strategies adopted by certain large companies.
Sometimes it has even become a national sport.
Well, all of this will theoretically be over once this agreement comes into force, in principle in 2023. Why?
Because one of the main changes decided is the idea of a minimum tax rate of 15%.
The figure remains to be confirmed but the principle is there: no longer any company will be able to pay a tax lower than this rate anywhere in the world.
It's a revolution when you know the scale of the phenomenon.
Precisely, do we know how much money passed through these tax havens?
Yes, the orders of magnitude are known. In a recent study, the Economic Analysis Council calculated that the United States, for example, moved 95 billion euros in profits each year to tax havens, mainly in the Bahamas, the Cayman Islands and Ireland. For German companies, it is 46 billion euros and for France 34 billion, with a preference for Luxembourg, Ireland and the Netherlands. So these are raw figures, but in another study published last June, Oxford Econmics described the extent of the phenomenon by revealing for example that a third of the profits of American multinationals were recorded in tax havens. Much more than Germany, France, Italy and Spain which, together, are only 7.5% of the profits housed in offshore structures.
But will this agreement make as much difference as it is claimed?
If we imagine that it will put an end to tax havens, surely not.
Some countries like Ireland or the Netherlands have seen the headquarters of large groups settle on their soil thanks to the tax bonuses they were offering and it is not at all certain that these companies will leave.
Other countries such as Luxembourg are suspected of granting tax breaks without any official stamp to large groups, which is therefore difficult to detect.
What we can say is that there will be big changes, no doubt, but in the tax area.
The creativity is great, that of governments to raise new taxes and that of companies or individuals to avoid them.