G20 finance ministers and central bank governors, at their March 19-20 meeting in Buenos Aires, Argentina, agreed to try to work out their differences on the taxation of multinational digital businesses with the goal of reaching consensus by 2020.
The commitment comes after the release on Friday of an OECD interim report which revealed a split among nations on whether the international tax system needs to be updated to account for digital firms.
“The impacts of the digitalisation of the economy on the international tax system remain key outstanding issues. We welcome the OECD interim report analysing the impact of the digitalisation of the economy on the international tax system. We are committed to work together to seek a consensus-based solution by 2020, with an update in 2019,” the officials said, in a communique released after their meeting.
The G20 ministers said they would continue to work for a globally fair and modern international tax system and that they welcome international cooperation and pro-growth tax policies.
The ministers also reaffirmed their commitment to the implementation of the 2015 OECD/G20 base erosion and profit shifting (BEPS) package and recognized substantial progress being made internationally on tax transparency.
“We look forward to the OECD’s recommendations on how to further strengthen the criteria for assessing jurisdictions compliance with internationally agreed tax transparency standards. Defensive measures will be considered against listed jurisdictions,” the G20 tax officials said.
The ministers further said they welcome the first conference of the Platform for Collaboration on Tax (PCT), which was held February 14–16, and the PCT’s efforts to help developing countries implement internationally agreed tax standards.
The OECD Secretary General today presented a report to the G20 ministers and central bank governors which discusses the OECD’s tax agenda, including the interim report on the digital economy.
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