Implementation of global minimum tax deal is Germany's priority, Finance Minister says

[May 24, 2024]  By Maria Martinez and Christian Kraemer
 
BERLIN (Reuters) - The implementation of the second pillar of the global minimum tax deal is Germany's priority and further ideas should not be discussed until there is an agreement on the first pillar, German Finance Minister Christian Lindner said on Friday.   

German Finance Minister Christian Lindner presents new tax revenue estimates in Berlin, Germany, May 16, 2024. REUTERS/Liesa Johannssen/File Photo

"In the second pillar we already have this in national legislation in Germany," Lindner said at a press conference on the sidelines of a meeting with his G7 counterparts in Italy. "Current work focuses on the first pillar."

The tax is mainly for U.S.-based digital giants, with a so-called "first pillar" aimed at reallocating taxing rights on about $200 billion of corporate profits to the countries where the companies do business.

The United States has threatened retaliatory tariffs against European countries if they implement the first pillar, which is stuck in negotiations.

Countries are meanwhile implementing the second pillar of the global minimum tax deal.

That part of the accord tries to ensure companies with revenue greater than 750 million euros ($800 million) pay a global minimum rate of 15% by allowing governments to apply a top-up tax on revenues earned in countries with lower rates.

As negotiations on the first pillar continue, the German government is "extremely skeptical" about new components of a global tax agenda, the minister said.

"We have to concentrate on implementing what we have already worked on," Lindner said in Stresa, Italy. "Overloading the global tax policy agenda would only result in us achieving less than possible."

($1 = 0.9227 euros)

(Reporting by Christian Kraemer and Maria Martinez; editing by Philippa Fletcher)

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