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3 Minutes to Read Reuters – VENICE (Reuters) – For the first time since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, finance ministers and central bankers from the Group of 20 affluent countries will meet face to face on Friday in Venice, where corporate tax reform will be a primary priority. PHOTO FROM THE FILE: People sit at outdoor tables in St. Mark’s Square in Venice, Italy, on May 16, 2021, as Italy eliminates quarantine restrictions for visitors traveling from European Union countries, the United Kingdom, and Israel and begins offering COVID-free flights in an effort to revitalize the tourism industry. FILE PHOTO: REUTERS/Manuel Silvestri The G20 is poised to give its political approval to ideas for new rules on where and how firms are taxed, which were supported by 130 countries at the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development in Paris last week. The agreement calls for a global minimum corporate income tax of at least 15%, which the OECD thinks could generate an additional $150 billion in global tax revenue, but it leaves many details to be worked out. Officials said the two-day meeting in Italy’s ancient lagoon city will kick off a conversation about how to put the OECD proposals into action, with the goal of achieving a formal agreement at the G20 leaders’ summit in Rome in October. The G20 members, which include major players such as the United States, Japan, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, and India, account for more than 80% of global GDP, 75% of global commerce, and 60% of the world’s population. If everything goes according to plan, the new tax laws should be implemented globally by the end of 2023. Ministers may seek assurances from US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen that she will be able to secure legislative approval for the ideas in a split US Congress, where Republicans and business groups oppose Joe Biden’s planned tax increases on corporations and the rich. Apart from taxes, ministers will debate the global economic recovery, which, according to officials from G20 President Italy, is highly uneven, with wealthier Western countries performing well while underdeveloped ones lag behind. Kristalina Georgieva, the head of the International Monetary Fund, said this week that there is a “serious disparity” between wealthy and developing countries as they try to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. The G20 will ask the IMF to allocate $650 billion of its reserve asset, known as Special Drawing Rights, by the end of August, with the condition that a large portion of the money go to the poorest countries. According to G20 officials, some delegations may express concerns that rising inflation and interest rates in the United States could unbalance the global economy, though this is unlikely to emerge in the final statement. The G20 ministers and central bankers will meet on Friday from 1:15 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. (1115-1530 GMT) and Saturday from 9:45 a.m. to 5:15 p.m. (0745-1515 GMT), with the Italian presidency holding a concluding news conference. A tax symposium will be held on Friday, while a climate change conference will be held on Sunday. Gavin Jones contributed reporting, and Aurora Ellis edited the piece./nRead More

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