US Treasury Proposes Global Minimum Tax Rate of 15 Percent

During the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) / G20 international tax negotiations, the U.S. Treasury Department proposed that the global minimum tax rate should be at least 15 percent, noting that the final rate could go even higher.

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These negotiations came less than two months after U.S. President Joe Biden proposed a series of corporate tax changes that could raise roughly US$2 trillion over 15 years to pay for infrastructure investments in eight years.

The Biden proposal would increase the U.S. corporate income tax rate to 28 percent, up from the current 21 percent, attempting to partially reverse the tax cuts under the Donald Trump administration.

This proposal would also raise the global minimum tax on U.S. multinational corporations from 10.5 to 21 percent, in a bid to discourage offshoring and create incentives for investment in the United States.

The Treasury Department underscored that 15 percent is a "floor" and that discussions should continue to be "ambitious" and push that rate higher.

With the global corporate minimum tax functionally set at zero today, there has been a race to the bottom on corporate taxes, undermining the countries' ability to raise the revenue needed to make critical investments.

The U.S. authorities made clear that a “minimum tax rate would ensure the global economy thrives based on a more level playing field in the taxation of multinational corporations, and would spur innovation, growth, and prosperity while improving fairness for the middle class, and working people."