In this June 7, 2017 file photo, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) headquarters is pictured in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Francois Mori)

       TOKYO (Kyodo) -- A group of 130 nations and regions agreed Thursday to implement a global minimum corporate tax rate and duties on multinational giants in 2023, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development said.

       In online working-level OECD talks, participants vowed to aim for the introduction of a common minimum tax rate of at least 15 percent for globally operating companies to prevent them from shifting profits to low-tax jurisdictions as well as to secure more revenue, the organization said in a press release.

       The new tax will apply to multinational giants with global annual revenue of at least 20 billion euros ($24 billion) and a profit margin of over 10 percent.

       About 100 companies are likely to become subject to the new tax and the impact on Japanese firms is considered to be "relatively limited," according to a Japanese government official.

       OECD Secretary General Mathias Cormann welcomed the agreement, saying in the press release that the "historic package" will ensure that major global firms pay their fair share of tax everywhere.

       To implement the rule, a multilateral treaty is due to be drawn up in 2022, with each government to prepare necessary revisions of domestic laws and regulations, according to the Paris-based club of 38 mostly wealthy nations.

       The talks came as momentum has been building for the development of universal taxation rules for companies operating across borders amid criticism that digital giants such as Google LLC and Apple Inc. book profits in low-tax jurisdictions.

       Using the outcome of the OECD meeting as a springboard, the finance ministers and central bank governors of the Group of 20 major economies aim to reach a broad agreement on cross-border taxation issues at a meeting scheduled for July 9-10 in Venice, Italy, as the Group of Seven finance chiefs did last month.

       In June, the finance ministers of Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States plus the European Union agreed on a Washington-proposed global minimum corporate tax rate of at least 15 percent at talks in London.

       The G-7 ministers also committed to setting new rules to enable countries to impose duties according to where multinational companies make sales, regardless of whether they maintain a presence there. Those agreements were endorsed by G-7 leaders at their summit in Cornwall, southwestern England, in mid-June.

       After details such as the specific minimum tax rate and how France, Italy and Britain, which already have digital service taxes, commit to the common taxation rule are sorted out, the scheme will likely be finalized at another G-20 finance meeting in October in Washington, the official said.

       A total of 139 governments have joined the framework of the OECD and the G-20 on the Base Erosion and Profit Shifting project, launched in 2012 to combat multinational tax avoidance.

       Out of them, nine countries failed to join Thursday's agreement. Those nations include Ireland and Hungary, which set effective corporate tax rates of 12.5 percent and 9 percent, respectively, to attract companies.

       "We are taking the number of agreeing countries positively," the Japanese official said. "We would never exclude the (nine) nations from our discussion. In the process of hammering out more details, we hope them to join us by October."

       Governments expect the new taxation rules to increase inflows into their coffers, which have been depleted by large-scale fiscal stimulus measures implemented in response to the coronavirus pandemic.

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