Germany sees a global agreement on digital taxes, backed by the United States, as “very likely.”

Madrid, 29 years old. (Europe Press) –

German Finance Minister Olaf Schultz has expressed optimism about the possibility of reaching, within the deadlines set by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), a global agreement on taxation of large digital companies that includes support for the United States.

“I’m really sure we’ll come to an agreement,” the German minister said in an interview with CNBC, compiled by Europa Press, just a day after he made his first phone call to the new US Treasury Secretary, Janet Yellen.

“It is very likely that we will achieve the success that we are working hard for. The new (US) administration has given me the impression that it understands the need for an agreement in this area and that they will work with us all to find a solution that I think is a great success.”

The new US Secretary of the Treasury had already expressed, during the confirmation of her appointment in the Senate, her support for a global rate of digital giants and for the active participation of the US government in negotiations on this issue within the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.

Last October, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development was forced to postpone the planned timetable regarding negotiations on a new international framework for taxing digital giants, which originally envisaged an agreement for the end of 2020, but was postponed until mid-2021.

In this sense, the Minister of Economy, Finance and Recovery of France, Bruno Le Maire, expressed this week his confidence in the possibility of reaching an agreement with the United States, within the framework of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, on the digital tax by the spring of 2021, after Yellen was willing to reach a solution. Center on international taxation on the two pillars proposed by the OECD: digital taxation and the minimum effective rate in corporate tax.

“There is a possibility that this new international tax system will be ready by the end of the spring of 2021,” the French minister said during his speech at the World Economic Forum, stressing that France, one of the countries that unilaterally implemented his “Google rate”, will make all efforts. Necessary to clear the way and that an agreement could be reached

In mid-January, in one of the last actions of the previous administration, the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) concluded that taxes on digital services approved in Spain, Austria, and the United Kingdom are discriminatory for US companies and are inconsistent with international tax principles for that, although not Taking any specific action at the time, it has warned that it will continue to evaluate all available options.

In the case of the Spanish “Google Tax”, it stated that, due to its structure and operation, it discriminates against American digital companies, whether in choosing covered services or income limits, noting that the tax “is unreasonable because it conflicts with international principles relating to taxation”, in addition to imposing taxes Or restricting US trade.

The new tax was imposed in Spain, which came into effect on January 16, on companies with a total annual revenue of at least 750 million euros and revenues in the country exceeding 3 million, and is targeting online advertising services, online mediation services and the sale of data resulting from information Provided by the user during his activity or selling metadata.

However, the Spanish government has ensured that the tax will be “temporary” until a global or European regulation is approved within the framework of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development or the G20.

The Secretary-General of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, Angel Gurria, recently criticized the unilateral introduction of digital taxes in some countries, warning that this path could unleash a retaliatory response from others, pushing the situation “not only into a” financial war “, but into A “trade war” would be harmful to everyone.