Oldham Liberal Democrats have welcomed the adoption by the leaders of the world’s wealthiest nations of a proposal to levy a uniform 15% tax on the profits of multinationals, especially as it is similar to their own idea brought to the March 2021 Council meeting.
Chancellor Rishi Sunak, who is hosting the meeting of G7 leaders in London and Cornwall, announced an agreement in principal of a plan to introduce a 15% global minimum corporate tax rate on multinational corporations. Many of these domicile their head offices and declare corporate profits in no-tax havens or low-tax nations as a means of tax avoidance.
Commenting, the Leader of the Liberal Democrat Group, councillor Howard Sykes MBE said: “It would be nice to think Rishi Sunak did have the chance to read our March motion as this proposal mirrors our own idea to impose a tax on the excess online profits of multinationals, albeit on a national, rather than international, scale. Although 15% is too low a figure to impose on companies like Amazon, Facebook and Google, who report consistently obscene profits, it is a start as this is the first international agreement of its kind. So to Chancellor Sunak I say, ‘Tax a lot’.
“There now needs to be more pressure from enlightened governments, politicians and faith leaders; charities and civil society groups; and concerned citizens to continue to press the G7 to make this tax real, substantial, and unavoidable”, added councillor Sykes. “And the money raised must be directed to where it is needed – alleviating the suffering of the world’s poor, tackling climate change, and supporting the recovery of our Covid-hit economies.”