By Christian Kraemer

WASHINGTON, (Reuters) – Germany could hope to collect an additional 5-6 billion euro ($5.8-$6.9billion) from large businesses under the global minimum income tax agreement last week. This was calculated by an influential Ifo Institute study.

It was estimated that 6-6.4 billion Euros could be achieved by the German tax authorities if the historic agreement of 136 nations, which established a global minimum tax rate of 15% on big businesses starting in 2023, has positive impacts for them.

They were included in a report that was seen by Reuters Wednesday by the Ifo Institute. The institute aims at helping to influence the European economic policy debate by conducting research that informs decision-making by business and policymakers.

Olaf Scholz (German finance minister, chancellor candidate for Social Democrats) has stated that the minimum tax rate would have a visible effect. However, he did not give any figures.

Tax estimates for Germany from May show that tax revenues should total 773 billion Euros this year, with 294 billions at the Federal level.

The deal last week aims to end the four-decade-old “race to bottom”. It sets a ceiling for countries who have tried to attract investments and jobs through taxing multinational corporations lightly. This allows them to shop around for lower tax rates.

The agreed 15% floor is however well below the corporate tax rate, which in most industrialised countries averages at around 23.5%.