As the pandemic has widened the wealth gap and increased the poverty level for millions of Americans, the pressure on billion-dollar companies evading their tax bills has been mounting.

                By                    Georgina Tzanetos

See: These 10 Countries Pay Less in Taxes Than AmericansFind: What Is Tax Repatriation and How Does It Work?

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Over the weekend, the finance ministers of the G7 met and, in a historic decision, finally agreed to push for a 15% global minimum tax rate on corporations. Politicians around the globe have been trying for decades to put legislation in place to avoid this, but the conflicts between corporate and political interests make the issue complicated. For example, the Seattle Times reports that a country like Ireland, with a headline tax rate of 12.5%, would stand to lose around $2.4 billion in tax revenue, whereas France, with a headline rate of 26.5%, would gain around $6 billion if the tax agreement were to go through. As such, Ireland has been vocal in its opposition to the new tax law and has stated that keeping low corporate tax rates is one of the only areas it can compete globally. The Seattle Times adds that U2 singer and Irish native Bono even once said that low tax rates for companies gave Ireland “the only prosperity it’s ever known.”

The argument is that in comparison to smaller economies like Ireland, countries like France hardly need the extra revenue, and most international tax havens are in countries that stand to largely benefit — and survive — from their continued presence. The Cayman Islands in the Caribbean is another such country that largely benefits from agreeable tax policy. A virtually zero-rate tax policy brings thousands of wealthy corporations to its shores that ordinarily might not have visited the tiny island nation in such droves.

See: What Are the World’s Best Tax Havens?Find: Jeff Bezos Supports Corporate Tax Hikes in Biden’s $2 Trillion American Jobs Plan

While it may seem far off that enough international cooperation would come to fruition to lock the agreement in place, more progress was made over the weekend than ever before. The strife of the pandemic and recent memory still lingering from the most recent recession are perhaps enough to finally push for large companies paying what normal Americans have paid all their lives.

See: These 15 Companies Struck Gold During LockdownFind: Biden Not Convinced Higher Corporate Tax Will Drive Companies Out of US

So what does this mean for you?

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