Federal Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland says a multi-lateral agreement on the taxation of technology companies is "within reach" and should be included in a deal on a global minimum corporate tax rate.
Freeland travels to London, England this week for a meeting of finance ministers of the Group of Seven leading industrialized nations (G7). They are expected to reach a deal on a minimum global corporate tax.
The U.S. has proposed to set the minimum tax at 15%, down from the 21% it had proposed in April, but others have argued its proposal does not go far enough on the taxation of technology companies such as Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN), Google (NASDAQ:GOOGL) and Facebook (NASDAQ:FB).
"We've been having good conversations along with our partners," Freeland told reporters before departing for Europe. "The new U.S. administration has taken an approach of compromise and I think that really does mean a deal is within reach."
Freeland said if a multi-lateral deal on the technology tax issue is not reached, Canada would go ahead with its own planned "digital services tax," although she reiterated that both issues should be dealt with at the G7 finance ministers’ summit.
"For us, what we're looking for is a deal on both pillars one and two," she said. "It's important for us that they go together."
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