More than 130 countries have given up on agreeing on new taxation rules this year for global tech giants like Google LLC and Apple Inc. due to disagreements over U.S. proposals and the coronavirus pandemic, with the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development saying Monday it will seek a deal by mid-2021.
The countries originally aimed to release a final report by the end of the year, responding to criticism that such technology companies, also including Facebook Inc. and Amazon.com Inc., are avoiding paying their fair share of taxes by taking advantage of low-tax jurisdictions.
"We will now focus on resolving the remaining political and technical issues," the OECD said in a report, as differences have emerged between the United States, which opposes targeting American companies, and European nations pressing for taxing such businesses appropriately where they make huge profits.