Why new plans to make multinational tech giants pay more tax won’t get very far

A blueprint has been finally agreed, but that’s just the first step and failure to get it implemented means countries will go it alone with measures like Britain’s digital services tax, writes James Moore

Impossible job? The OECD will struggle to deliver

Whenever people urge action on the tax avoidance tactics beloved by tech giants and other multinationals their shills and defenders inevitably cry: “Wait for the OECD, they're sorting it out.”

The rich country club has been working on plans to reform the creaky international system governing corporate taxation for some time.

The reason for that cry, of course, is that waiting for it to get an agreement on the way forward is a bit like waiting for Godot.