OECD says 130 countries agree global taxation deal

PARIS: Some 130 countries and jurisdictions have signed up to a global tax reform ensuring that multinationals pay their fair share wherever they operate, the OECD said on Thursday.

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development said in a statement that global companies, including US behemoths Google, Amazon, Facebook, and Apple would be taxed at a rate of at least 15 percent.

The formal agreement follows an endorsement by the G7 group of wealthy nations last month at a meeting in Britain, when US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said a global minimum tax "would end the race to the bottom in corporate taxation".

Germany on Thursday hailed the deal as a "colossal step towards tax justice".

But European Union low-tax countries Ireland and Hungary declined to sign up to the agreement reached in the OECD framework, highlighting lingering divisions on global taxation.