Joe Biden’s tax crackdown on tech giants

Joe Biden’s tax crackdown on tech giants: Firms face tougher measures under global plan by US President, leaked papers show

  • Tech giants and multinational firms face a tax clampdown under a global deal  
  • Biden plans to force companies to pay more tax in the countries they operate in 
  • The move is touted as a major breakthrough after years of inaction 

Tech giants and multinational firms face a tax clampdown under a global deal proposed by Joe Biden.

The US President plans to force companies to pay more tax in the countries they operate in, leaked documents show.

And a global minimum corporation tax rate would ‘prevent a race to the bottom’ with businesses shifting profits to low-tax jurisdictions, the Financial Times reported. 

Tech giants and multinational firms face a tax clampdown under a global deal proposed by Joe Biden

The move, touted as a major breakthrough after years of inaction, was welcomed yesterday by the UK.

The Government said that getting technology giants to pay their fair share remained a top priority. Firms such as Apple and Amazon have been accused of using complicated financial structures to minimise what they owe.

In 2019, Amazon’s UK tax bill came to just £293million despite sales of £13.7billion, while Apple’s retail arm paid £6.2million after UK sales of £1.4billion. Both firms insist they pay everything they legally owe.

Janet Yellen, US treasury secretary, said earlier this week: ‘It is about making sure that governments have stable tax systems that raise sufficient revenue … and that all citizens fairly share the burden of financing government.’