As published on irishexaminer.com, Monday 14 June, 2021.
The EU commissioner responsible for the European economy said he would be happy if the G20 group of countries gives its backing next month, in general terms, to setting a minimum global corporate tax rate for multinationals.
Speaking to an Irish audience at a webinar by the Institute of International and European Affairs, Commissioner Paolo Gentiloni maintained that Ireland has little to fear from the changes proposed this month by the group of seven wealthy western countries for a minimum corporate tax rate of at least 15%.
The G7 is now looking first for the support of the wider G20 and then for the backing of an ongoing OECD process of 139 countries.
Mr Gentiloni set out the EU case that reforms are needed to raise revenues to help European economies recover from the Covid crisis, as well for reasons of fairness.
He said there was a lot of discussions going on to define what an effective tax rate would mean but added he personally would be happy with an agreement "in principle" at the next G20 meeting.
Mr Gentiloni hailed the backing for global tax changes by US President Joe Biden, which he said was "a game changer" in terms of driving reform.
Since the G7 agreement was signed, Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe has reiterated that the reforms will cost the Irish exchequer about €2bn a year in reduced corporate tax revenues. Ireland collected almost €12bn in corporate tax revenues last year, of which the lion's share was accounted for by a handful of US multinationals.