Multinational tax avoidance ‘scam’ targeted by Joe Biden, Janet Yellen with ‘global minimum tax’

This week, the United States signalled a major shift on tax policy.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen told the Chicago Council on Global Affairs there had been a “30-year race to the bottom on corporate tax rates”.

The United States, she said, was now “working with G20 nations to agree to a global minimum corporate tax rate that can stop the race to the bottom”.

This idea, which aims to discourage multinational companies from shifting profits to low-tax countries (regardless of where their sales are made), has been floating around for some time.

But with the US on board, it could finally end an impasse on how to…