PARIS, July 12 (Reuters) - With the exception of Canada, countries with digital services taxes have agreed to hold off applying them for at least another year as a global multinationals tax deal to replace them was pushed back, the OECD said on Wednesday.
More than 140 countries were supposed to start implementing next year a 2021 deal overhauling decades-old rules on how governments tax multinationals that are widely considered to be outdated as digital giants like Apple or Amazon can book profits in low-tax countries.
If at least 30 countries sign, then the freeze on national digital taxing rights will be extended through 2024 with an option to further extend through 2025 if needed, the OECD said.
"Canada was not in agreement with the standstill," Corwin told journalists, citing the only country among the five holdouts with a digital services tax.
But even once governments sign the treaty, ratification will be no easy task, especially in the United States where a two-thirds majority in the Senate is needed.
Persons:
Corwin, Leigh Thomas, Mark Heinrich Our
Organizations:
Organisation for Economic Cooperation, Development, OECD, Thomson
Locations:
Canada, Paris, Belarus, Pakistan, Russia, Sri Lanka, United States