Saudi Press

Saudi Arabia and the world
Thursday, Oct 02, 2025

Sunak urged to back Biden corporate tax plan ‘worth £13.5bn a year’

Sunak urged to back Biden corporate tax plan ‘worth £13.5bn a year’

Campaigners say US global blueprint would help raise billions from multinationals and tech giants

Rishi Sunak has been urged to throw his full weight behind US proposals for a global minimum corporate tax rate after analysis showed it would bring in an extra £13.5bn a year for the public purse.

The campaign group Tax Justice UK said the Biden administration plan would help raise billions of pounds a year for the UK exchequer by hitting multinationals and US tech companies operating in the country with higher tax bills, including firms such as Amazon, Apple, Google owner Alphabet and Facebook.

Under the US blueprint, the world’s 100 most profitable multinationals would be forced to pay taxes to national governments based on the sales they generate in each country, irrespective of where they are based. It would also establish a global minimum tax rate to help bring an end to profit-shifting by multinationals and discourage countries from undercutting each other on tax rates. Washington has suggested a rate of 21%.

Finance ministers from across Europe – including from Germany, France and the Netherlands – have welcomed the US intervention as a signal that significant global progress can be made on tackling tax avoidance by big companies and digital firms.

However, tax campaigners said the UK government had been silent on the US plans, and urged the chancellor to give his full backing to Washington. The Labour shadow chancellor, Anneliese Dodds, also said Britain needed to play a leading role.

“Now that President Biden has moved the debate on, it’s important that our government moves to play its part,” she said.

Paul Monaghan, chief executive of the Fair Tax Mark campaign group, said other big European countries and the International Monetary Fund had responded publicly to the plan. “But we’ve heard nothing from Boris Johnson or Rishi Sunak in the UK as yet,” he said.

“The world has a once in a generation opportunity to embed tax justice and eradicate profit-shifting. It’s vital the UK steps up to the plate and publicly backs what the US and other progressives are trying to do.”

It is understood the UK Treasury recognises the need for an agreement on a global minimum tax rate as part of negotiations taking place at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), which is coordinating talks on tax reform between 135 nations.

However, sources said ministers wanted to make sure any solution was balanced and appropriately targeted, while also pointing to a track record of UK leadership on global tax reforms through the launch of a digital services tax last year. Designed as an interim measure before a global deal can be reached, the levy targets the British revenues of search engines, social media services and online marketplaces, and is similar to arrangements in France, Italy and Spain.

A Treasury spokesman said: “We welcome the US administration’s renewed commitment to reach a global solution this year.”

“Updating the international tax rules to ensure that digital businesses pay more tax in the UK, in line with their economic activities, remains a UK priority, and we will continue to work openly and constructively with international partners to develop a consensus-based solution.”

Negotiations at the OECD are expected to centre on the threshold for determining which companies are in scope, as well as the rate for a global minimum. Although aiming for a deal by mid-2021, significant hurdles remain given the lower corporate tax levied by some nations. EU members vary from as low as 9% in Hungary and 12.5% in Ireland to 32% in France and 31.5% in Portugal.

Tax Justice UK said establishing a minimum rate would bring substantial benefits, including more tax revenue for the exchequer, and addressing public anger at tax avoidance by major companies.

According to research for the group by international experts, setting the global rate at 15% would bring in an extra £8.2bn a year for the UK government, while a rate of 20% would generate £13.5bn.

Setting the minimum at 25%, the level at which Sunak will peg the UK’s domestic corporate tax rate at from 2023, up from a current level of 19%, would bring in an estimated £22.3bn, while a rate of 30% would raise £31.6bn annually.

Robert Palmer, executive director of Tax Justice UK, said: “The government should stand up and support these proposals. The UK and its tax haven network have long promoted a global race to the bottom on corporate taxes – this needs to end.”

Newsletter

Related Articles

Saudi Press
0:00
0:00
Close
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
Nvidia and Abu Dhabi’s TII Launch First AI-&-Robotics Lab in the Middle East
UK, Canada, and Australia Officially Recognise Palestine in Historic Shift
New Eye Drops Show Promise in Replacing Reading Glasses for Presbyopia
Dubai Property Boom Shows Strain as Flippers Get Buyer’s Remorse
Top AI Researchers Are Heading Back to China as U.S. Struggles to Keep Pace
JWST Data Brings TRAPPIST-1e Closer to Earth-Like Habitability
UAE-US Stargate Project Poised to Make Abu Dhabi a Global AI Powerhouse
Trump and Starmer Clash Over UK Recognition of Palestinian State Amid State Visit
Saudi Arabia cracks down on music ‘lounges’ after conservative backlash
Saudi Arabia Signs ‘Strategic Mutual Defence’ Pact with Pakistan, Marking First Arab State to Gain Indirect Access to Nuclear Strike Capabilities in the Region
Sam Altman sells the 'Wedding Estate' in Hawaii for 49 million dollars
Turkish car manufacturer Togg Enters German Market with 5-Star Electric Sedan and SUV to Challenge European EV Brands
World’s Longest Direct Flight China Eastern to Launch 29-Hour Shanghai–Buenos Aires Direct Flight via Auckland in December
New OpenAI Study Finds Majority of ChatGPT Use Is Personal, Not Professional
Kuwait opens bidding for construction of three cities to ease housing crunch.
This Week in AI: Meta’s Superintelligence Push, xAI’s Ten Billion-Dollar Raise, Genesis AI’s Robotics Ambitions, Microsoft Restructuring, Amazon’s Million-Robot Milestone, and Google’s AlphaGenome Update
Indian Student Engineers Propose “Project REBIRTH” to Protect Aircraft from Crashes Using AI, Airbags and Smart Materials
Could AI Nursing Robots Help Healthcare Staffing Shortages?
Turkish authorities seize leading broadcaster amid fraud and tax investigation
Qatari prime minister says Netanyahu ‘killed any hope’ for Israeli hostages
Apple Introduces Ultra-Thin iPhone Air, Enhanced 17 Series and New Health-Focused Wearables
Big Oil Slashes Jobs and Investments Amid Prolonged Low Crude Prices
Social Media Access Curtailed in Turkey After CHP Calls for Rallies Following Police Blockade of Istanbul Headquarters
Did the Houthis disrupt the internet in the Middle East? Submarine cables cut in the Red Sea
Gold Could Reach Nearly $5,000 if Fed Independence Is Undermined, Goldman Sachs Warns
Uruguay, Colombia and Paraguay Secure Places at 2026 World Cup
Trump Administration Advances Plans to Rebrand Pentagon as Department of War Instead of the Fake Term Department of Defense
Tether Expands into Gold Sector with Profit-Driven Diversification
Trump’s New War – and the ‘Drug Tyrant’ Fearing Invasion: ‘1,200 Missiles Aimed at Us’
At the Parade in China: Laser Weapons, 'Eagle Strike,' and a Missile Capable of 'Striking Anywhere in the World'
Information Warfare in the Age of AI: How Language Models Become Targets and Tools
Israeli Airstrike in Yemen Kills Houthi Prime Minister
After the Shock of Defeat, Iranians Yearn for Change
YouTube Altered Content by Artificial Intelligence – Without Permission
Iran Faces Escalating Water Crisis as Protests Spread
More Than Half a Million Evacuated as Typhoon Kajiki Heads for Vietnam
HSBC Switzerland Ends Relationships with Over 1,000 Clients from Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Qatar, and Egypt
Sharia Law Made Legally Binding in Austria Despite Warnings Over 'Incompatible' Values
Dogfights in the Skies: Airbus on Track to Overtake Boeing and Claim Aviation Supremacy
Tim Cook Promises an AI Revolution at Apple: "One of the Most Significant Technologies of Our Generation"
Are AI Data Centres the Infrastructure of the Future or the Next Crisis?
Miles Worth Billions: How Airlines Generate Huge Profits
Zelenskyy Returns to White House Flanked by European Allies as Trump Pressures Land-Swap Deal with Putin
Beijing is moving into gold and other assets, diversifying away from the dollar
Cristiano Ronaldo Makes Surprise Stop at New Hong Kong Museum
Zelenskyy to Visit Washington after Trump–Putin Summit Yields No Agreement
×