LONDON — Federal finance Minister Chrystia Freeland says a G7 deal to tax multinational tech corporations is good for Canada and its businesses.
Freeland, who is also deputy prime minister, says in a tweet from London that the agreement announced Saturday after a meeting of finance ministers from some of the world’s wealthiest countries will ensure a “fair and level playing field” for Canadian businesses in the global economy.
The ministers also agreed to support a global minimum corporate tax rate of at least 15% in order to deter multinational companies from avoiding taxes by stashing profits in low-rate countries.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said the agreement provides momentum to reaching a global 15 per cent rate that “would end the race-to-the-bottom in corporate taxation.”
The endorsement from the G7 could help build momentum for a deal among more than 140 countries as well as a Group of 20 finance ministers set to meet in July.
The meeting of G7 finance ministers came ahead of the annual summit of G7 leaders scheduled June 11-13 in Carbis Bay, Cornwall.