137 Countries on Board for OECD Digital Tax Plan: Gurria

Davos, Jan 23 (PTI) OECD chief Angel Gurria on Thursday said the international body's plan to help solve digital tax problems has got support of 137 countries and new rules must be put in place to stop evasion worth hundreds of billions of dollars.

Speaking here at a session during WEF 2020, he said the new plan is not about specific digital companies, but is an issue for finance ministers finding their income going down.

"We need to establish new rules to avoid hundreds of billions of dollars not being paid in tax," he said.

Some countries including France have postponed their own laws to give a multilateral solution a chance.

Gurría said he is confident that the OECD's deal will be agreed, despite doubts expressed by some countries, including the US.

"Are we on track? Yes," he said. "We have been working on this digital tax plan for 2-3 years. In the second half of 2020 we will go for implementation."

"We believe it is possible to deliver this deal and gain the consensus we need.

"The small and medium sized companies are captive in their borders and have to pay tax, where the biggest companies in the world pay 0.02 per cent," said Gurría.

"It's a question of trust, and if people feel that they have to pay, and the rich don't, they will eventually go out on the streets to complain."

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