ST. PETERSBURG, Russia — It's time to make Google, Apple and other multinational companies pay more taxes. That's the message from President Barack Obama and the leaders of the world's leading economies at a summit ending Friday. The head of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development told The Associated Press that the leaders have signed up to an ambitious new tax plan at the Group of 20 summit in St. Petersburg, Russia. The new rules, unveiled by the OECD and debated by G-20 finance ministers in July, would make it harder for companies to hide profits in tax havens and force them to pay tax in the countries where they make money. The leaders also agreed to an unprecedented deal to share information on individual taxpayers, despite earlier resistance by China. But it may take years to get the new tax treaties and laws into place. And advocacy groups say poor countries should also be included, and warn that big companies may try to pressure governments to slow or dilute the new tax rules. “You've got to get the big guys to make a contribution,” OECD chief Angel Gurria said. Otherwise, he said, “What are the treasurers, the ministers of finance left with? Medium and small-scale enterprises, the middle class to tax? Well, that has a limit.” The OECD is designing the new global tax rules and has come under fire from cross-border corporations that say they're being unfairly targeted. — AP
