The meeting of finance ministers from some of the world's largest economies ended Saturday with an agreement to convince more nations to sign up to a global tax reform deal before the G20 summit in October.
"We achieved a very important agreement, many colleagues define this as a historic agreement," said Daniele Franco, Italy's Minister of Finance on Saturday.
"We endorse the key components of the two pillars on the reallocation of profits of multinational enterprises and an effective global minimum tax."
Italy's Minister of Economy and Finance Daniele Franco leaves the press conference of the G20 High Level Independent Panel (HLIP) during the G20 finance ministers and central bankers meeting in Venice on July 9, 2021. /Andreas SOLARO/AFP
The U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen hailed the G20's decision to support the global tax deal.
"The world is ready to end the global race to the bottom on corporate taxation, and there's broad consensus about how to do it - with a global minimum tax of at least 15 percent," she said.
"The world should now move quickly to finalize the deal," she added.
The support of the 19 biggest economies and the European Union suggests the agreement on a global tax deal is on its way to become reality, but the terms of it are unlikely to be finalized before the G20 meeting in Rome in October.
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Eight countries have refused to sign the accord, which was announced by the G7 nations last month during a summit in Cornwall in the UK.
Ireland, Hungary, and Estonia are holdouts within the European Union - despite the bloc's leadership in Brussels backing the deal.
In the month since the G7 meeting, 131 countries have agreed to the deal at talks hosted by the OECD in Paris. That includes some of the world's largest economies: the U.S., China, Japan, and Germany.
The framework of the OECD's proposed policy would establish a global system that ensured profits by large corporations were taxed based on where they were earned.
IG20 finance ministers gathered in Venice under tight security, with global tax reform at the top of the agenda as the world's biggest economies seek to ensure multinational companies pay their fair share. /Andreas Solaro/AFP
Besides drumming up support from holdout countries, G20 finance ministers also must resolve a number of technical issues within the draft tax policy.
UK Chancellor Rishi Sunak wants nations to agree to 'carve-out' exemptions that stimulate investment and leave some industries untouched, after petitioning for the City of London's financial services sector to be completely exempted.
However, those exclusions are likely to be controversial as different countries view key industries with a different lens.