Germany hopes to reach a tax agreement that “will change the world”

The German Finance Minister, Olaf Scholz, was optimistic this Saturday that the G7 economies will reach a global tax agreement that can “change the world” and help pay debt accumulated during the pandemic.

The G7 Economy and Finance Ministers -United Kingdom, Germany, the United States, France, Canada, Italy and Japan-, plus the European Union (EU) today end a two-day meeting in London focused, among other things, on reforming the global tax system.

In a statement to the BBC, Scholz was “totally confident” that the G7 will agree to a corporate tax and that a minimum of 15% can help deal with debt.

If an agreement is reached, “this will help the countries in which we live to finance their missions and, especially after the COVID crisis and all the money we spend, to defend the health of the population and defend the economy”, added the minister.

This meeting, prior to next week’s leaders’ summit in Cornwall (south-west England), also seeks solutions to the challenges of the digital economy and to strengthen the role of financial markets in the fight against the climate crisis.

If the global tax deal is successful, it will still need to be evaluated by the G20 and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).