G7 agrees on global minimum tax rate of at least 15 pct

WASHINGTON -- The Group of Seven (G7) industrialized nations have agreed to support new rules that will achieve a global minimum tax rate of at least 15 percent, US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said Saturday.

Calling it a "significant, unprecedented" commitment, Yellen said in a statement that the global minimum tax would end the race-to-the-bottom in corporate taxation, and ensure fairness for the middle class and working people in the United States and around the world.

"The global minimum tax would also help the global economy thrive, by leveling the playing field for businesses and encouraging countries to compete on positive bases," she said.

The British Treasury, meanwhile, said in a statement that the principle of at least 15 percent global minimum corporation tax operated on a country by country basis creates a more level playing field for British firms and cracks down on tax avoidance.

The G7 agreement came about two weeks after the U.S. Treasury Department said it had proposed that the global minimum tax rate should be at least 15 percent, noting that the final rate could go even higher.

The G7 Finance Ministers' meeting took place in London on June 4-5.