World Economy, Ecology and Development – WEED, The German Network for Tax Justice and Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung 

No Taxes, No Development – Ways to a Just Taxation of Multinational Corporations

Tax revenues from the domestic economy play a key role in a country’s economic development. They are the only way to sustainably finance public infrastructure. In particular, the countries of the Global South depend heavily on corporate taxes, especially on those paid by few multinational companies. Yet these companies tend to avoid tax payments at the place of production on a vast scale. Local tax authorities can hardly keep up with the well-equipped tax departments of these corporations and their consulting firms.

A G20 and OECD project on combating base erosion and profit shifting by transnational corporations (BEPS) suggested a number of possible responses to these problems. During the conference, we would like to evaluate the G20/OECD approach with a focus on the question if it could contribute to eliminating tax avoidance in poorer countries as well. Furthermore, we would like to discuss whether the United Nations should play a stronger role in combating tax avoidance on a global scale. We will also touch upon the question if the basic approach of the current international tax system, in which companies are considered separately and taxed in their individual locations, is the right one.

The complete programme is available here: English | German

Please register for the conference until February 5th by completing the registration form and sending it to [email protected].