The effective tax rate that Amazon paid in the last decade was 13 percent. By 2020, the 55 largest companies in the United States did not pay taxes. The effective rate on the profit of companies that in the Spanish state invoiced more than one billion euros was 4.57% in 2019 according to the Spanish Treasury. In the same year, the 22 largest Basque companies paid 7.7% of their tax profits, of which seven did not contribute. Eurostat says that over the past 25 years the nominal tax rate of associations in the European Union has fallen from 35% to 21.5% on average. Global and local policy trends in recent decades have been favourable to reducing the nominal and effective corporate tax contribution in the name of the principle of competitiveness.

In the context of the pandemic and at the initiative of the President of Biden the United States, this fiscal policy has begun to be questioned, implicitly assuming its absurdity. The EGTC (Economic Partnership for Cooperation and Development, OECD) last month set a milestone in the evolution of the global tax system. This association of Western rich countries achieved the commitment of 136 countries representing 90% of the world's gross domestic product to combat tax evasion by large associations, which had been questioned until the last hour, including Ireland, Estonia and Hungary.

It is known that from 2023 onwards the main measure was to set a 15 per cent profit rate for transnational corporations that make more than $750 million a year. According to the LGEE, this decision opens up the possibility of redistributing USD 125 billion from the world’s 100 largest companies to countries around the world. On the other hand, from now on, these companies will tax in the countries in which they carry out their economic activity (in addition to the country in which they reside), avoiding the trick to establish benefits in those countries that currently have advantages to take advantage of the subsidies fiscales.En theory the step taken is a significant advance, but introducing into the details the valuation
is different. The application of the second criterion, taxation in economically active countries, will concern only the 100 largest companies. In addition, the abolition of taxes on digital trade is called for in each country. Thus, the poorest countries will have less income than before.

On the other hand, the minimum nominal rate of 15 per cent is low and even, taking into account the distribution formula, the countries in which companies are based are those which receive most of the revenue recovered, regardless of the other countries and, above all, the developing countries. The G7 countries, which account for 10% of the world's population, would receive 60% of these future revenues, accepting the estimates of the Tax Justice Network. In principle, the measure intended to change the direction of global fiscal policy, in practice, is more than apparent. Some countries in the South have not signed the agreement, they are afraid of worsening the situation. Once again, the opportunity for a fairer global fiscal policy has been lost.