International Coalition Letter Against Global Minimum Tax
We, the undersigned organizations, representing taxpayers and consumers across the globe, strongly oppose the creation of a global minimum corporate tax rate agreement by the G7 nations. This agreement would significantly damage the valuable tax competition among countries, and would cause undue harm to businesses, workers, and economies around the world.
On June 5th, 2021, the governments of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States agreed at a Group of Seven (G7) meeting to institute a global minimum corporate tax rate of at least 15 percent. The official 2021 G7 Summit will occur in the United Kingdom from June 11th to 13th. Leaders from the G7 countries are expected to promote an even more comprehensive agreement on international taxation at the G20 meeting in July.
A global minimum tax would greatly curtail the force of tax competition. This competition between nations offers a critical check on the power of governments and it is vital for ensuring efficient and reasonable levels of taxation. According to the nonpartisan Tax Foundation, “Tax competition can help to keep taxes closer to their optimal level, constraining wasteful government excess.” Instituting a global minimum tax would reduce pressure on higher-tax governments, and overall corporate tax rates would rise to inefficient and confiscatory levels.
The proposed 15 percent minimum tax rate would be particularly detrimental to countries such as Ireland, Bulgaria, and Hungary that currently keep their corporate tax rates at lower, more competitive rates. A global minimum tax also threatens poorer, developing countries who need to maintain high growth rates in order to be lifted out of poverty. Cutting corporate tax rates leads to an increase in investment, productivity, and economic growth, output, and ultimately higher standards of living. Low corporate tax rates are an important tool for developing countries to improve the lives of their citizens, and a global minimum tax rate would impair the effectiveness of that tool. It’s also important to point out that countries like China have no intention to agree on or implement such a global minimum tax and any other smart country will immediately lower its corporate tax rate and reap the benefits.
The G7s agreement on a global minimum corporate tax rate should be abandoned and should be rejected by the G20 in July. Individual countries should be able to follow their own open democratic processes to pursue the tax rules they see fit and not be forced to cede sovereignty to a group that might not act in their own interests.
International bodies should not infringe on the tax systems of sovereign countries and should be focused on facilitating tax competition, free trade, and economic prosperity for countries of all sizes.
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