James Dolan, partner and head of international tax  said: ‘Whilst the proposals establish a fairer global tax system, the Chancellor, Rishi Sunak, cannot categorically say how much additional tax revenue the UK will raise.  The total sums involved are not as large as many have assumed. 

‘The OECD estimated a total of up to $100bn (£70bn) per annum or 4% of total corporate tax receipts. With UK GDP at about 2.4% of the global economy, and UK corporation tax at around £60-70bn per annum, this translates to about £2-3bn per annum for the UK economy – not to be sniffed at but a 1p increase on income tax or VAT would raise over twice that sum.

‘The global tech giants have welcomed the proposals, but there should be a concern that they will simply pass on the cost of the tax to the end consumer. Rising cost to consumers is a current concern with the risk of short-term inflationary rises following the enormous liquidity introduced to the global economy during the coronavirus pandemic, and higher associated costs in relation to Brexit.’