Spain to set 15% minimum corporate tax rate for multinational firms

MADRID (Reuters) - Spain will adapt its legislation to introduce a 15% minimum corporate tax rate on multinational firms, the government said on Tuesday, a move that is in line with an OECD-wide agreement designed to prevent tax avoidance.

Spain has a headline corporate tax rate of 25%, but there are many exceptions allowing firms to pay a much lower effective rate.

The 15% minimum rate will be imposed on companies with revenues higher than 750 million euros ($814.58 million).

"It aims to fight against the distortion of tax bases and the relocation of the profits of large multinational groups to lower taxation locations," Budget Minister Maria Jesus Montero told reporters.

In 2021, more than 130 countries agreed to an Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) deal to ensure large international companies pay a minimum tax rate of 15%, to prevent them from trying to avoid imposts by transferring profits to low-tax countries.

($1 = 0.9207 euros)

(Reporting by Inti Landauro. Writing by Emma Pinedo, editing by Andrei Khalip)