Tax Reform Tops Agenda as G-20 Finance Chiefs Meet in Venice

VENICE, ITALY - Finance ministers and central bankers from the group of 20 rich countries will meet face to face on Friday for the first time since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic at a gathering in Venice where corporate tax reform will top the agenda.

The G-20 is expected to give its political endorsement to plans for new rules on where and how much companies are taxed which were backed last week by 130 countries at the Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. The deal envisages a global minimum corporate income tax of at least 15%, a level which the OECD estimates could yield around $150 billion in additional global tax revenues but leaves much of the details to be hammered out. Officials say the two-day gathering in Italy's historic lagoon city will open a discussion on how to put the OECD proposals into practice, with the aim of reaching a final agreement at a Rome G-20 leaders' summit in October.