The deal aims to stop large firms booking profits in low-tax nations regardless of where their clients are, an issue that has become ever more pressing with the growth of 'Big Tech' giants that can easily do business across borders.

Key Points

• A group of 136 countries, including, on Friday set a minimum global tax rate 15% for big companies and sought to make it harder for them to avoid taxation in a landmark deal that US President Joe Biden said levelled the playing field.
• The deal aims to end a four-decade-long “race to the bottom” by setting a floor for countries that have sought to attract investment and jobs by taxing multinational companies lightly, effectively allowing them to shop around for low tax rate.
• The 15% floor agreed to is, however, well below a corporate tax rate which averages around 23.5% in industrialised countries.