The G20 agrees to a global corporate minimum tax. Leaders of the world’s major economies endorsed a minimum 15 percent levy, negotiated by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. Said Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen: “Every G20 head of state endorsed an historic agreement on new international tax rules, including a global minimum tax that will end the damaging race to the bottom on corporate taxation.” Each country still needs to legislate that framework that would apply to companies with annual revenues of at least $864 million. Many countries (including perhaps the US) are likely to tweak the overall agreement.
Biden and the EU also agree to ease “Trump tariffs.” Former President Trump imposed a 25 percent tariff on steel and 10 percent tariff on aluminum. Europeans retaliated by imposing their own import taxes on some high-end US consumer goods. The Biden administration and the European Union agreed over the weekend that the US will allow limited volumes of EU steel and aluminum to enter the US tariff-free. In exchange, the EU agreed to drop retaliatory tariffs on US exports such as Harley-Davidson motorcycles and Kentucky bourbon, which were set to climb in December.
House Democrats might pass infrastructure and spending bills this week. Democratic leaders have told lawmakers they want the chamber to vote on both the bipartisan infrastructure bill and a $1.75 trillion social spending bill tomorrow. Committees worked through the weekend to complete changes to the Build Back Better bill. Among the still-unresolved issues: What to do about the cap on the state and local tax (SALT) deduction, whether to create a federal family leave and medical program, and whether to allow Medicare to negotiate drug prices.
Latest Build Back Better drops some retirement saving tax incentives. Tax Notes reports (paywall) the proposed bill dropped provisions approved by the House Ways & Means Committee to require companies to offer workplace retirement savings plans and a separate increase in the savers credit. Both aimed to make it easier for low-income workers to build nest-eggs. These were among the many changes President Biden and the House leadership made to the Ways & Means bill.
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