UK's Sunak says world is watching as G7 debates tax reform | The Business Standard
Skip to main content
  • Epaper
  • Economy
    • Aviation
    • Banking
    • Bazaar
    • Budget
    • Industry
    • NBR
    • RMG
    • Corporates
  • Stocks
  • Analysis
  • Videos
    • TBS Today
    • TBS Stories
    • TBS World
    • News of the day
    • TBS Programs
    • Podcast
    • Editor's Pick
  • World+Biz
  • Features
    • Panorama
    • The Big Picture
    • Pursuit
    • Habitat
    • Thoughts
    • Splash
    • Mode
    • Tech
    • Explorer
    • Brands
    • In Focus
    • Book Review
    • Earth
    • Food
    • Luxury
    • Wheels
  • Subscribe
    • Epaper
    • GOVT. Ad
  • More
    • Sports
    • TBS Graduates
    • Bangladesh
    • Supplement
    • Infograph
    • Archive
    • Gallery
    • Long Read
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Magazine
    • Climate Change
    • Health
    • Cartoons
  • বাংলা
The Business Standard

Tuesday
June 03, 2025

Sign In
Subscribe
  • Epaper
  • Economy
    • Aviation
    • Banking
    • Bazaar
    • Budget
    • Industry
    • NBR
    • RMG
    • Corporates
  • Stocks
  • Analysis
  • Videos
    • TBS Today
    • TBS Stories
    • TBS World
    • News of the day
    • TBS Programs
    • Podcast
    • Editor's Pick
  • World+Biz
  • Features
    • Panorama
    • The Big Picture
    • Pursuit
    • Habitat
    • Thoughts
    • Splash
    • Mode
    • Tech
    • Explorer
    • Brands
    • In Focus
    • Book Review
    • Earth
    • Food
    • Luxury
    • Wheels
  • Subscribe
    • Epaper
    • GOVT. Ad
  • More
    • Sports
    • TBS Graduates
    • Bangladesh
    • Supplement
    • Infograph
    • Archive
    • Gallery
    • Long Read
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Magazine
    • Climate Change
    • Health
    • Cartoons
  • বাংলা
TUESDAY, JUNE 03, 2025
UK's Sunak says world is watching as G7 debates tax reform

Global Economy

Reuters
04 June, 2021, 01:35 pm
Last modified: 04 June, 2021, 04:48 pm

Related News

  • G7 debt is now a pressure point for anxious markets
  • UK's crime agency freezes £90m of London property belonging to Salman F Rahman's son, nephew: Guardian
  • G7 glosses over tariffs, pledges to cut global economic imbalances
  • G7 finance leaders try to downplay tariff disputes, find consensus
  • Dollar drops as traders eye Trump tax bill, G7 currency talks

UK's Sunak says world is watching as G7 debates tax reform

"I believe we can make significant progress in tackling some of the world's most pressing economic challenges," Sunak told reporters shortly before the meeting began

Reuters
04 June, 2021, 01:35 pm
Last modified: 04 June, 2021, 04:48 pm
FILE PHOTO: Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak leaves Downing Street, following the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19), London, Britain, May 4, 2020. REUTERS/John Sibley/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak leaves Downing Street, following the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19), London, Britain, May 4, 2020. REUTERS/John Sibley/File Photo

Britain said the world was relying on a gathering of some of the richest nations to agree reforms to outdated global tax rules, as finance ministers from the Group of Seven started a two-day meeting in London on Friday.

The gathering, chaired by British finance minister Rishi Sunak, is the first time the ministers have met face-to-face since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.

Rich nations have struggled for years to agree a way to raise more tax from large multinational companies such as Google, Facebook and Amazon, which often book profits in jurisdictions where they pay little or no tax.

The Business Standard Google News Keep updated, follow The Business Standard's Google news channel

US President Joe Biden's willingness to raise taxes on large businesses now creates more chance of an international consensus than under his predecessor Donald Trump, and a need to repair Covid-hit public finances makes it more pressing.

"We cannot continue to rely on a tax system that was largely designed in the 1920s," Sunak said as he opened the meeting. "And I will just say this: the world has noticed. And I believe they have high expectations for what we all can agree over the coming days."

He has stressed the importance of meeting face-to-face with fellow ministers from the United States, Japan, Germany, France, Italy and Canada. Britain's government is hosting the event in Lancaster House, an ornate 19th-century mansion almost next door to Buckingham Palace.

"You need to be round a table, openly, candidly talking through things," Sunak told Reuters in an interview this week. 

Due to Covid restrictions, ministerial delegations have been cut down and there are fewer travelling journalists. Seating plans have been redesigned with the help of public health officials, and Sunak greeted leaders by bumping elbows, not shaking hands.

But the bigger challenge remains reaching an agreement on tax reform which could then be presented to a broader group of countries, the G20, at a summit in Venice in July.

In a joint letter on Friday, finance ministers from Germany, France, Spain and Italy wrote that they would "commit to defining a common position on a new international tax system at the G7 Finance Ministers meeting in London".

"We are confident it will create the momentum needed to reach a global agreement," they added.

However, Japan's finance minister Taro Aso said on Monday that he did not expect agreement this week on a specific minimum tax rate.

The US Treasury expects a fuller agreement to come when Biden and other heads of government meet at a secluded beach resort in southwest England on June 11-13. 

Minimum 15% Rate

The United States has proposed a minimum global corporate tax rate of at least 15%. If a company paid tax somewhere with a lower rate, it would probably have to pay top-up taxes.

Biden had been planning to raise the US domestic corporate tax rate to as high as 28%. But on Thursday he proposed a tax floor of 15% in a bid to gain support from Republicans for new spending measures. 

But just as important for Britain and many other countries is that companies pay more tax where they make their sales -- not just where they book profits, or locate their headquarters.

The United States wants an end to the digital services taxes which Britain, France and Italy have levied, and which it views as unfairly targeting US tech giants for tax practices that European companies also use.

British, Italian and Spanish fashion, cosmetics and luxury goods exports to the United States will be among those facing new 25% tariffs later this year if there is no compromise.

The US has proposed levying the new global minimum tax only on the world's 100 largest and most profitable companies.

Britain, Germany and France are open to this approach but want to ensure companies such as Amazon - which has lower profit margins than other tech firms - do not escape the net.

European Union Commissioner Paolo Gentiloni, who is also attending the G7 meeting, said progress had been made in the run-up to the meeting.

"We are working at the OECD level to have reallocation of taxing rights for 'giants' including digital giants, and I think this is a on a very good track," he told CNBC

Daniel Bunn, an expert on global taxation at Washington's Tax Foundation think tank, said these proposals were likely to lead to more complex regulation.

"A lot of those rules are going to be, I think, politically based rather than principles-based," he said.

World+Biz

Rishi Shunak / UK / G7

Comments

While most comments will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive, moderation decisions are subjective. Published comments are readers’ own views and The Business Standard does not endorse any of the readers’ comments.

Top Stories

  • Representational image/Reuters
    Overall balance of payment deficit shrinks nearly $5b in July-Apr FY25
  • Representational Photo: Collected
    Exports rebound in May with 11.45% YoY growth, highest in 11 months
  • Salahuddin speaking to reporters after talks with the National Consensus Commission at the Foreign Service Academy on 3 June. Photo: TBS
    BNP wants only national election under 90-day caretaker govt: Salahuddin

MOST VIEWED

  • Advance tax on bus, truck, taxi to rise by up to 88%
    Advance tax on bus, truck, taxi to rise by up to 88%
  • Illustration: Duniya Jahan/TBS
    How Tk5 lakh tax exemption can be availed by salaried individuals
  • 17 makeshift cattle markets leased in Dhaka for Eid: Who gets the most
    17 makeshift cattle markets leased in Dhaka for Eid: Who gets the most
  • Representational image. File photo: Collected
    Primary education to see funding cut, madrasah budget to rise
  • Budget FY26: Housing sector may take a hit, flat prices set to rise
    Budget FY26: Housing sector may take a hit, flat prices set to rise
  • Illustration: Duniya Jahan/TBS
    Interim govt unveils national budget of Tk7.90 lakh crore for FY2025-26; first budget cut in history

Related News

  • G7 debt is now a pressure point for anxious markets
  • UK's crime agency freezes £90m of London property belonging to Salman F Rahman's son, nephew: Guardian
  • G7 glosses over tariffs, pledges to cut global economic imbalances
  • G7 finance leaders try to downplay tariff disputes, find consensus
  • Dollar drops as traders eye Trump tax bill, G7 currency talks

Features

Illustration: TBS

The GOAT of all goats!

18h | Magazine
Photo: Nayem Ali

Eid-ul-Adha cattle markets

19h | Magazine
Sketch: TBS

Budget FY26: What corporate Bangladesh expects

1d | Budget
The customers in super shops are carrying their purchases in alternative bags or free paper bags. Photo: Mehedi Hasan

Super shops leading the way in polythene ban implementation

1d | Panorama

More Videos from TBS

The major trade agreements are in the final stages: White House

The major trade agreements are in the final stages: White House

49m | TBS World
The China-United States trade war is about to intensify once again.

The China-United States trade war is about to intensify once again.

1h | TBS World
Russia-Ukraine war: Questions over the effectiveness of the S-400 air defense system

Russia-Ukraine war: Questions over the effectiveness of the S-400 air defense system

1h | TBS World
News of The Day, 03 JUNE 2025

News of The Day, 03 JUNE 2025

1h | TBS News of the day
EMAIL US
contact@tbsnews.net
FOLLOW US
WHATSAPP
+880 1847416158
The Business Standard
  • About Us
  • Contact us
  • Sitemap
  • Advertisement
  • Privacy Policy
  • Comment Policy
Copyright © 2025
The Business Standard All rights reserved
Technical Partner: RSI Lab

Contact Us

The Business Standard

Main Office -4/A, Eskaton Garden, Dhaka- 1000

Phone: +8801847 416158 - 59

Send Opinion articles to - oped.tbs@gmail.com

For advertisement- sales@tbsnews.net