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A global tax on business? Here's how it would work

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A global tax on business? Here's how it would work

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Leaders at the Group of 20 summit in Rome this weekend express broad support for sweeping changes in how big global companies are taxed.

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Q&A: How the global minimum tax would work

Why do leaders see this as a problem?

In today's economy, multinationals can earn big profits from things like trademarks and intellectual property that are easier than factories to move. Companies can assign the earnings they generate to a subsidiary in a country where tax rates are very low.

Some countries compete for revenue by using rock-bottom rates to lure companies, attracting huge tax bases that generate large revenue even with tax rates only marginally above zero.

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How would a global business tax work?

The basic idea is simple: Countries would legislate a minimum rate of at least 15% for very big companies with annual revenues over 750 million euros ($864 million)

If company earnings go untaxed or lightly taxed in one of the world's tax havens, their home country would impose a top-up tax that would bring the rate to 15%.

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What would this mean in the United States?

Biden has staked a claim that the U.S. must join the global minimum tax in order to persuade other nations to do so. That would involve raising the current rate for foreign earnings from 10.5% to reflect the global minimum. His tax proposals are still being negotiated in Congress.

U.S. participation in the minimum tax deal is crucial, simply because so many multinationals are headquartered there — 28% of the 2,000 biggest global companies. Complete rejection of Biden's global minimum proposal would seriously undermine the international deal.

Where will all the billions go? Is there a downside?

Some developing countries and advocacy groups such as Oxfam and the UK-based Tax Justice Network say the 15% rate is too low.

And although the global minimum would capture some $150 billion in new revenue for governments, most of it would go to rich countries because they are where many of the biggest multinationals are headquartered. Developing countries took part in the talks and all signed except for Nigeria, Kenya, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

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Could businesses get around it?

The EU Tax Observatory research consortium cautions that exemptions for companies with actual assets and employees in a given country could "exacerbate tax competition by giving firms incentives to move real activity to tax havens."

That means some tax competition among countries would still be possible when actual business operations — as opposed to shifty accounting — are involved.

How would the new tax take effect?

Backing from the G-20 leaders completes a yearslong process of negotiation. Once approval is reflected in the summit's final statement, expected Sunday, implementation then moves to the individual nations.

The tax on earnings where companies have no physical presence would require countries to sign on to an intergovernmental agreement in 2022, with implementation in 2023.

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How could the tax be enforced on digital businesses?

The plan would also let countries tax part of the earnings of the 100 or so biggest multinationals when they do business in places where they have no physical presence, such as through internet retailing or advertising. The tax would only apply to a portion of profits above a profit margin of 10%.

In return, other countries would abolish their unilateral digital services taxes on U.S. tech giants such as Google, Facebook and Amazon.

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Well-known companies that started the year you were born

1950: Dunkin’

Now simply known as Dunkin’, the brand formerly known as Dunkin’ Donuts was born in 1950 in Quincy, Massachusetts. The first franchise of these colorful coffee and donut shops opened in 1955, and there are now more than 12,000 locations worldwide.

Tim Boyle

1951: Texas Instruments

In 1951, the company Geophysical Service, Inc., was reorganized and renamed Texas Instruments. This major electronics manufacturer makes more than 80,000 products but is perhaps best known for its line of TI graphing calculators used by students from middle school through college.

TNS

1952: Holiday Inn

The first Holiday Inn hotel was built in 1952 in Memphis, Tennessee, taking its name from the 1942 Bing Crosby film of the same name. The next year, three more opened. Today, there are Holiday Inns in every state and in more than 50 countries around the world. The chain also pioneered the first online hotel reservation system.

TNS

1953: Epic Records

Epic Records was established in 1953 as a jazz and classical label, but became a powerhouse in the ‘70s and ‘80s with influential rock, pop and R&B acts such as Cheap Trick, Boston, George Michael and Michael Jackson.

Spencer Platt

1954: Burger King

Burger King, the second-largest fast food hamburger chain in the world, got its start in 1954 in Miami, Florida. The company sold its first franchise in 1959 and today, more than 11 million a day around the world visit a Burger King.

TNS

1955: McDonald’s

In 1955, Ray Kroc founded McDonald’s System, Inc., a predecessor to the McDonald’s Corporation. By 1958, McDonald’s had sold a million hamburgers. Today, there are more than 36,000 McDonald’s restaurants around the world in more than 100 different countries.

Hulton Archive

1956: Williams Sonoma

In 1956, Chuck Williams founded a French cookware store in Sonoma, California. Today, there are Williams-Sonoma stores selling kitchen and home products across the U.S., Canada, Australia and the U.K.

TNS

1957: O'Reilly Auto Parts

Founded by a father and son in Springfield, Missouri, in 1957, O'Reilly Auto Parts has grown to a business with almost 5,600 stores across 47 states.

TNS

1958: Visa

The Diners Club Card was created in 1950, becoming the first credit card in widespread use. However, just a few years later, the company that would be Visa entered the scene. In 1958, Bank of America launched its BankAmericard, the first credit card with a “revolving credit” feature. In 1976, the card’s name was changed to Visa, and today, Visa is the most popular credit card network with 340 million cards in circulation, according to WalletHub.

Justin Sullivan

1959: Conair

Hair products brand Conair was founded in 1959 in a garage in Queens, New York. The brand helped popularize the pistol-grip hair dryer in the 1960s. Over the decades, it has grown into one of the country's largest privately held companies, producing personal care products, kitchen appliances and more. (Brian Ach/Getty Images for iHeart)

Brian Ach

1960: Domino’s

Pizza delivery giant Domino’s had humble beginnings with just one pizza shop. In 1960, two brothers borrowed $900 to buy "DomiNick's” in Ypsilanti, Michigan. In 1965, the business was renamed Domino’s, and two years later, the first franchise opened. Today, there are more than 17,000 Domino’s Pizza locations around the world and it is the largest pizza company in the world based on global retail sales.

Joe Raedle

1961: Four Seasons

The first Four Seasons hotel opened in 1961 in downtown Toronto, Canada. In the 1970s, the company expanded first to London and then to Washington, D.C. Today, there are more than 100 Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts in over 45 countries.

TNS

1962: Walmart

In 1962, Sam Walton opened the first Walmart store in Rogers, Arkansas. The company went public in 1970, and as of 2015, Walmart serves more than 200 million customers each week at more than 11,000 stores in 27 countries. (ROBYN BECK/AFP via Getty Images/TNS)

ROBYN BECK

1963: CVS

CVS, which stands for Consumer Value Stores, was founded in Lowell, Massachusetts, in 1963 and sold health and beauty products. By the next year, the chain had grown to 17 stores. Today, there are more than 9,900 CVS retail locations in 49 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.

TNS

1964: Nike

Nike was founded in 1964 as Blue Ribbon Sports by Bill Bowerman, a track-and-field coach at the University of Oregon, and his former student Phil Knight. Bowerman filed his first patent for a running shoe in 1974 after making a prototype with his wife’s waffle iron. Today, Nike's revenues top $37 billion, according to Forbes.

TNS

1965: Dolby

Dolby Laboratories was founded in 1965 by audio engineer Ray Dolby. The company pioneered audio-processing systems that eliminate background noise, which debuted on the soundtrack of the 1971 hit movie "A Clockwork Orange." The famous Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles is named after the company, which today has more than 2,200 employees in more than 20 countries. (Dreamstime/TNS)

TNS

1966: Best Buy

Best Buy began in 1966 as a small store in St. Paul, Minnesota, called Sound of Music that sold stereos, speakers and records. Sound of Music expanded as a chain before the company opened the first Best Buy superstore in 1983. Today, Best Buy is a nearly $40 billion company.

TNS

1967: Southwest Airlines

The concept for Southwest Airlines was developed in a bar in San Antonio. A year later in 1967, Air Southwest Company was founded. The company was originally envisioned as a commuter service between Dallas, Houston and San Antonio. Today, Southwest Airlines serves more than 100 different locations. (Dreamstime/TNS)

TNS

1968: Royal Caribbean

Founded in 1968 by three Norwegian ship owners, cruise line Royal Caribbean now offers itineraries to more than 270 destinations on six continents and is home to six of the world’s largest cruise ships.

TNS

1969: Cracker Barrel Old Country Store

The first Cracker Barrel opened in 1969 in Lebanon, Tennessee. Since then, the chain has expanded across the country, reaching the West Coast in 2018. Today, there are more than 660 restaurants in 24 states. (Dreamstime/TNS)

TNS

1970: Freddie Mac

Freddie Mac was chartered by Congress in 1970 as a private company to work in tandem with Fannie Mae, which was created in 1938 as part of an amendment to the National Housing Act. The pair of companies help ensure a reliable and affordable supply of mortgage funds throughout the country. (Alex Wong/Getty Images/TNS)

Alex Wong

1971: Starbucks

Starbucks opened its first store in Seattle’s famed Pike Place Market in 1971. Today, Starbucks is the world’s largest coffeehouse chain. As of 2015, there are more than 22,000 Starbucks stores around the world.

Stephen Chernin

1972: Atari

Atari, which pioneered home video game systems, was founded in 1972 and launched its first console in 1977. Today, Atari owns and manages more than 200 games, including its classics such as “Pong” and “Centipede.”

TNS

1973: Golden Corral

The first Golden Corral restaurant opened in 1973, in Fayetteville, North Carolina. The family-friendly steakhouse chain has expanded to almost 500 locations and has managed to stay successful despite a growing trend away from buffet-style restaurants.

TNS

1974: Alamo Rent a Car

Founded in 1974, Alamo began with 1,000 cars at four Florida locations. Today, Alamo, National Car Rental and Enterprise Rent-A-Car are part of the parent company Enterprise, the largest car rental company in the U.S. with a revenue of $22 billion, according to Forbes. (Darren McCollester/Getty Images/TNS)

Darren McCollester

1975: Microsoft

In 1975, childhood friends Bill Gates and Paul Allen founded computer software company Microsoft. The company was originally named Micro-Soft after microprocessors and software. By the 1980s, Microsoft was the world's biggest personal-computer software company. Today, it has more than $138 billion in sales, per Forbes.

TNS

1976: Apple

College dropouts Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak founded Apple in 1976 with a dream to make user-friendly, personal computers. By 1978, they were doing $7.8 million in sales. The company evolved beyond computers to release the iPod mp3 player, the iPhone smartphone, the iPad tablet computer and more. In the last three months of 2020 alone, Apple saw $111.4 in sales and $28.7 billion in profits.

Eric Thayer

1977: Victoria’s Secret

Known for its pink striped bags and annual fashion show, Victoria’s Secret has been the largest lingerie retailer in the U.S. for decades. But it began in 1977 as a space in a small shopping mall in Palo Alto, California.

TNS

1978: Ben & Jerry's

Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield opened an ice cream shop in a renovated gas station in Burlington, Vermont, in 1978 after the pair split the cost for a $5 correspondence course in ice cream-making from Penn State. The brand was acquired by Unilever in 2000 for $326 million. Today, it has more than 500 ice cream shops around the world and sells pints in 38 different countries.

TNS

1979: ESPN

Before it was “the worldwide leader in sports,” ESPN, an acronym for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network, was founded in 1979 by sports announcer Bill Rasmussen to broadcast New England Whalers hockey games and University of Connecticut sports. It became the first 24-hour television network and began airing all the NCAA men’s basketball tournament games when NBC hds only previously aired the Final Four. Today, the network’s flagship show, “SportsCenter,” averages up to 115 million viewers a month. (Jonathan Daniel/Allsport/Getty Images/TNS)

Jonathan Daniel

1980: Whole Foods

Whole Foods began in 1980 when a small natural foods store called Safer Way merged with Clarksville Natural Grocery in Austin, Texas, to become the first Whole Foods Market. The first Whole Foods had a staff of 19, but today, there are more than 500 Whole Foods stores in North America and the U.K. (Scott Olson/Getty Images/TNS)

Scott Olson

1981: MTV

The cable television network MTV, short for Music Television, debuted in 1981by broadcasting the music video for “Video Killed the Radio Star” by the Buggles. By the late 1980s, MTV started airing non-video programming, which went on to include seminal reality shows “The Real World,” “Laguna Beach,” “The Jersey Shore” and more. (Hulton Archive/Getty Images/TNS)

Hulton Archive

1982: Olive Garden

Olive Garden was founded in Orlando, Florida, in 1982. Today, it's the largest Italian-themed full-service chain restaurant with more than $4 billion in sales and more than 860 locations as of 2019. (Dreamstime/TNS)

TNS

1983: Costco

The first Costco opened in Seattle in 1983. Today, the multi-billion dollar global retailer has more than 100 million cardholders and warehouse club operations in eight countries, including nearly 600 locations in 45 U.S. states and Puerto Rico. (Dreamstime/TNS)

TNS

1984: Dell

In 1984, freshman Michael Dell founded a computer company in his University of Texas dorm room with $1,000. In 2001, Dell became the No. 1 computer systems provider worldwide. Today, it has almost $92 billion in sales, according to Forbes. (Dreamstime/TNS)

TNS

1985: AOL

Then known as Quantum Computer Services, America Online initially launched in 1985 as an online bulletin board for owners of Commodore 64 computers. The company was renamed AOL in 1991, and by 2000, it became the largest online service provider in the world and was worth $125 billion. In 2015, Verizon acquired AOL for about $4.4 billion. (Richard B. Levine/MCT)

Richard B. Levine

1986: Staples

Staples, which was conceived as a “supermarket for office products,” opened its first location in 1986 in Brighton, Massachusetts. Today, there are more than 1,000 Staples stores across the U.S. (Dreamstime/TNS)

TNS

1987: Sports Authority

Sporting goods store Sports Authority was founded in Florida, in 1987. The company was briefly owned by KMart in the '90s. It declared bankruptcy in 2006 and closed all of its 460 stores. (Dreamstime/TNS)

TNS

1988: Capital One

“What’s in your wallet?” is a famous commercial tagline and the company behind it, Capital One Financial, only began in 1988 as a credit card program at Richmond, Virginia-based Signet Bank. As of 2021, there are almost 100 million Capital One cards in circulation as well as 1,000 branch locations. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images/TNS)

Drew Angerer

1989: Garmin

GPS device company Garmin was founded in 1989 by electrical engineers Gary Burrell and Min H. Kao, who combined their first names - Gary and Min -- to form the company name. Today, the company has 16,000 employees and generates $4.2 billion in sales, according to Forbes. (Sean Gallup/Getty Images/TNS)

Sean Gallup

1990: Sirius Satellite Radio

Audio entertainment company Sirius Satellite Radio has been in business since 1990 when it was known as Satellite CD Radio. In 2007, Sirius merged with rival satellite radio company, XM to form SiriusXM. Today, its platforms collectively reach more than 150 million listeners. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images/TNS)

Justin Sullivan

1991: Total Wine & More

Total Wine & More, the largest independent wine retailer in the U.S., started in 1991 as a small store in Delaware. Now, there are more than 215 superstores across 26 states. (Dreamstime/TNS)

TNS

1992: Clif Bar

Created by bicyclist Gary Erickson with the help of his mother, Clif Bar launched in 1992. In 2000, Erickson turned down an offer of $120 million for the company. Today, it is estimated to bring in between $500 million to $1 billion in revenue. (Dreamstime/TNS)

TNS

1993: Chipotle

In 1993, chef Steve Ells opened the first Chipotle Mexican Grill in a remodeled ice cream shop in Denver, Colorado. Ellis opened two more locations by 1996. The company plans to open more than 200 new locations in 2021, bringing its store total to nearly 3,000. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images/TNS)

Joe Raedle

1994: Amazon

Jeff Bezos founded Amazon in 1994 out of his Seattle garage as a site to sell books. After just a month in business, Amazon had already sold books to people in all 50 states and 45 different countries. In 2020, Amazon earned $386 billion in revenue, and Bezos is the richest man in the world, worth $200 billion. (Dreamstime/TNS)

TNS

1995: eBay

Auction site eBay, originally named AuctionWeb, was founded by Pierre Omidyar in 1995 when he listed a broken laser pointer for $1. By 1997, the site had sold 1 million items, including $500 million worth of Beanie Babies. Today, the company does $10.7 billion in sales, according to Forbes. (Dreamstime/TNS)

TNS

1996: WebMD

Founded in 1996, health website WebMD was bought for $2.8 billion in 2017.

TNS

1997: Netflix

Netflix was originally founded in 1997 as a movie rental service that allowed subscribers to rent DVDs by mail. Streaming was introduced in 2007, and today, Netflix has 200 million members and is available in more than 30 languages and 190 countries.

TNS

1998: Google

Google products might be a staple of daily life for many Americans, but the company only began in 1998. Google grew from a Stanford dorm room to a garage to its Mountain View, California, headquarters. Today, Google makes hundreds of products beyond its signature search engine and is worth $1 trillion in market value. (Scott Barbour/Getty Images/TNS)

Scott Barbour

1999: Salesforce

Salesforce is a customer relationship management (CRM) platform that began as a startup in a San Francisco apartment. Today, it has more than 150,000 customers and is worth $176 billion. (Dreamstime/TNS)

TNS

2000: Verizon

Verizon Communications was created in 2000 through the merger of Bell Atlantic Corp. and Vodafone AirTouch Plc, becoming the nation's largest wireless carrier. The company has more than 130,000 employees and brought in a 2020 revenue of $128.3 billion.

TNS

2001: MailChimp

Email marketing platform MailChimp was founded in 2001 and remains 100% founder-owned. As of 2020, it had more than 14 million active customers and sent over 333 billion emails. (Vasilebobirnac1976/Dreamstime)

2002: GoPro

GoPro was founded in 2002 by Nick Woodman, who had wanted to film himself surfing. His initial prototype was made from a 35mm camera with a wrist strap made from old wetsuits and plastic scraps. Today, the company has sold more than 26 million GoPro cameras.

David Becker

2003: Tesla

Named after Serbian American inventor Nikola Tesla, electric car company Tesla was founded in 2003 by entrepreneurs Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning. PayPal co-founder Elon Musk was an early investor in the company and became CEO in 2008. As of December 2020, Tesla's valuation was $631.29 billion, making it worth about as much as the nine largest car companies globally. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images/TNS)

Spencer Platt

2004: Facebook

In 2004, Harvard student Mark Zuckerberg launched the social media site The Facebook, which later became simply Facebook. Today, the site has 2.85 billion monthly active users and makes ad-driven revenue of $26.2 billion. According to Bloomberg, Zuckerberg’s net worth is $126 billion. (Dan Kitwood/Getty Images/TNS)

Dan Kitwood

2005: YouTube

Conceived as a place for ordinary people to share their home videos, YouTube launched in 2005. The first YouTube video ever posted was by co-founder Jawed Karim called "Me at the zoo." In 2006, Google purchased YouTube for $1.65 billion in stock. Today, YouTube has more than 2 billion users and 1 billion hours of videos are watched daily. (Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images/TNS)

Jeff J Mitchell

2006: Twitter

Twttr — later changed to Twitter — launched on March 21, 2006 when co-founder Jack Dorsey posted the first-ever tweet, "just setting up my twttr.” The platform exploded in popularity in 2007, and today, there are 353 million monthly active users posting close to 500 million tweets daily. (LOIC VENANCE/AFP via Getty Images/TNS)

LOIC VENANCE

2007: Fitbit

Wearable tech company Fitbit was founded in early 2007. The idea for its product was initially pitched to early investors with just a circuit board in a wooden box. In 2021, Google purchased the company for $2.1 billion. (Eric Thayer/Getty Images/TNS)

Eric Thayer

2008: Airbnb

Airbnb was born in 2008 when San Francisco housemates Brian Chesky and Joe Gebbia were short on rent and decided to rent out air mattresses to conference attendees with no place else to stay because hotels were booked up. “Air Bed and Breakfast” became Airbnb, which has grown to a network of 4 million hosts who have welcomed more than 800 million guest arrivals. (JOHN MACDOUGALL/AFP via Getty Images/TNS)

JOHN MACDOUGALL

2009: Uber

Ride-hailing smartphone app Uber was founded in 2009 after Travis Kalanick and Garrett Camp were unable to get a ride on a cold winter's night. The first Uber rider requested a trip in 2010, and by 2018, there were 91 million monthly active platform consumers, 3.9 million drivers and 14 million Uber rides completed each day. (Dreamstime/TNS)

TNS

2010: Pinterest

Pinterest was founded in March 2010. After a few months, it had grown to 5,000 users. By 2020, it had 320 million monthly active users. Today, the social media platform has more than 500 employees and is available in 30 languages.

TNS

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IrelandUruguay, Eastern Republic ofUzbekistanVanuatuVenezuela, Bolivarian Republic ofViet Nam, Socialist Republic ofWallis and Futuna IslandsWestern SaharaYemenZambia, Republic ofZimbabwe

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