Plans for a global minimum corporate tax rate could be agreed upon by the middle of this year after finance ministers from G20 economies met virtually to discuss an overhaul of taxation for international companies.

However, just how much of an impact would a global agreed rate have?

CGTN Europe spoke to Tommaso Faccio, Head of Secretariat at the Independent Commission for the Reform of International Corporate Taxation (ICRICT), who said the move would be "a game-changer" in the fight against tax havens. 

"It will set a floor so that multinationals will pay a minimum tax in each country they operate, so they will no longer be able to shift profits to tax havens," he explained. "This is a reflection on new thinking, which is that lowering taxes for corporations does not stir investment.

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"We've seen that in the U.K. with the proposed changes to raise the corporation tax to 25 percent [in 2023]. We've seen that in the U.S. with this new proposal to increase corporation tax to 28 percent from 21 percent, but also trying to increase the minimum tax to 21 percent calculated on a country-by-country basis.

"So if there are profits over U.S. multinationals in the Cayman Islands or Ireland, they will ultimately be taxed at 21 percent in the U.S."

World Bank president David Malpass has expressed concern about the minimum 21 percent rate proposed, suggesting that it could hinder the ability of poorer countries to attract big companies.

Faccio, also a lecturer in taxation at Nottingham University Business School, told CGTN Europe that he disagrees with that assessment: "The data shows that financial flows arrive to countries in the global south, but this does not result in increased investment."

The U.S. government has given its backing to such a plan as part of President Biden's $2.3 trillion American Jobs Plan infrastructure overhaul, with Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen declaring the proposal as a way to end "a 30-year race to the bottom."