OECD outlines timetable for reaching agreement on digital taxation of multinationals

05 Jun 2019

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has outlined a new timetable for reaching an agreement on the digital taxation of multinational businesses.

EU member states have been unable to reach an agreement on plans for an international Digital Services Tax (DST). Consequently, the OECD now plans to introduce a global digital tax framework.

Certain member states have already started to create and implement their own policies, and the European Commission is also seeking to implement an EU-wide DST.

Commenting on the matter, Angel Gurría, Secretary General of the OECD, said: 'Important progress has been made through the adoption of this new Programme of Work, but there is still a tremendous amount of work to do as we seek to reach, by the end of 2020, a unified, long-term solution to the tax challenges posed by the digitalisation of the economy.'

In regard to domestic plans, the UK's own DST is set to take effect from 2020. The DST was announced by Chancellor Philip Hammond during the 2018 Autumn Budget, and will apply a 2% tax to the revenues of certain digital businesses.