TThe Interim Cabinet expressed its support for the plan of the seven major economies of the Group of Seven to introduce a minimum corporate tax rate worldwide of 15 per cent. This initiative was introduced as an attempt to reduce tax evasion worldwide.
The plan will force tech giants like Apple, Facebook, Google and Amazon to pay taxes in the countries where they generate their revenue. Currently, they only have to pay taxes in the countries they are in where tax evasion is possible.
The strategy will also end the so-called “race to the bottom” in which countries compete to keep their tax rates as low as possible to attract businesses. The agreement was signed in London on Saturday by the finance ministers of the Group of Seven nations, namely Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United States and the United Kingdom.
The outgoing Cabinet expressed its satisfaction with the agreement: “The Netherlands supports these plans. In this way we can effectively tackle tax evasion,” Minister of State for Financial Affairs Hans Villebrew said on Twitter.
The Netherlands supports these plans. This is how we effectively deal with tax evasion. The agreements are in line with many of the measures that NL has taken recently and continues to take to address tax evasion. I will do my best for the speedy implementation of these agreements in the European Union https://t.co/73gHHgc1Ox
– Hans Villbrief (@stasVijlbrief) June 5, 2021
Filbro also said he is working to implement the agreement in the European Union as quickly as possible. All G7 countries already have a corporate tax rate of 15 percent, but in the European Union there are some countries below this level. The corporate tax rates in Ireland and Cyprus are only 12.5% and in Hungary only 9%.
The Netherlands is also known as a tax haven for large corporations. Big companies such as Netflix, the Big Four British American Tobacco, Philip Morris, Japan Tobacco and Imperial Brand all used front companies in the Netherlands to evade taxes.
Earlier this week, Philbreve De Nieuws told BV that if companies start paying more taxes, the average citizen may be reduced.