GATJ Executive Coordinator, Dereje Alemayehu, speaking at the UN.

The international tax system is broken. “The current international tax rules are based on agreements at the League of Nations – an era when the vast majority of today’s UN member states were colonies. Keeping these rules in place is prolonging colonialism and denying the rights of source countries to tax their share on global profits,” shared Dr. Dereje Alemayehu, Executive Coordinator of the Global Alliance for Tax Justice (GATJ), at an intervention for the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) Special Meeting on International Cooperation in Tax Matters.

Expanding on the need for inclusive and effective international tax cooperation to replace the outdated system, Alemayehu cited examples: “we have business arrangements with insane outcomes such as the Isle of Jersey being the biggest banana exporter to Western Europe.” 

To rectify the flaws in the current international tax system, countries are beginning a fundamental reform of the global tax rules through the negotiations to develop a legally-binding United Nations Framework Convention on International Tax Cooperation (UN Tax Convention) from now until mid-2027. 

“Until the foundational faultlines of the global tax system are removed, patchy or sectoral reforms here and there will not be able to rectify the injustices. The commitments agreed to in the Terms of reference for a United Nations Framework Convention on International Tax Cooperation charts a new international tax system in which companies pay taxes where profit is generated and loopholes for profit shifting and base erosion are overcome”, emphasized GATJ’s Executive Coordinator. 

Countries have agreed to negotiate a Framework Convention and two early protocols. The first early protocol covers taxation of income derived from the provision of cross-border services in an increasingly digitised and globalised economy and the second was confirmed today. “Looking at the 1st protocol as a shortcut for a quick fix of sectional problems will be a wrong approach. Only a robust Convention can lay the foundation that can deliver on the framework which enables the protocol to function effectively. Fragmentation of the process by trying to solve one issue here and the other issue there will fail to deliver coherent and comprehensive and systemic solutions,” warned Alemayehu.

The ECOSOC Special Meeting on International Cooperation in Tax Matters gathered experts, academics and CSOs from the tax justice movement. Tax Justice Europe (TJ-E), Tax Justice Network Africa (TJNA) and Red de Justicia Fiscal de América Latina y el Caribe (RJF-LAC), GATJ regional members, actively engaged in the event held at the UN Headquarters in New York on March 28, 2025. GATJ brings together civil society as a South-led global coalition and as the co-coordinator of the Tax Justice Workstream of the Civil Society Financing for Development Mechanism, alongside Eurodad. 

Tove Maria Ryding, Tax Coordinator at Eurodad and Member of the Coordinating Committee of GATJ expanded upon this, sharing, “Our problem is not a lack of international tax rules. The problem is the rules we have are incoherent and deeply unfair, especially towards developing countries. The UN Tax Convention is a unique opportunity as all countries can for the first time participate on a truly equal footing.”

In July, countries will meet in Sevilla, Spain for the 4th Financing for Development Conference (FfD4). 

Speaking as a panelist, Chenai Mukumba, Executive Director of Tax Justice Network Africa (TJNA) and member of the Coordinating Committee of GATJ, shared, “The current international tax system is fragmented and dominated by exclusive decision-making bodies, limiting the ability of developing countries to enhance global tax systems. We see the UN Tax Convention as a step towards an inclusive tax system… As we head towards the 4th Financing for Development Conference, we need to see an outcome document that supports the decisions taken within the UN Tax Convention negotiations.”

On how to ensure progressive, inclusive international tax cooperation, Adrián Falco, Coordinator of the Tax Justice Area of ​​LATINDADD and Red de Justicia Fiscal de América Latina y el Caribe, a regional member of GATJ, intervened, “this requires an effective and inclusive institutional and normative framework, this can only be achieved by strengthening the UN Framework Convention in International Tax Cooperation with a strong support and political will from countries around the world.”. 

In the afternoon session, the meeting focused on the need to advance gender inclusivity through tax policy design and implementation. 

In an intervention on behalf of GATJ’s Tax and Gender Working Group, Everlyn Muendo, Tax Policy Lead at TJNA, said, “30 years after the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, we continue to confront inequalities embedded within our economic and fiscal systems. Tax systems are not neutral; a tax system that fails to consider the gendered economic realities such as income disparity and the burden of unpaid and underpaid care work reinforces inequalities.” 

Muendo went on to say, “The UN Tax Convention negotiations present a historic opportunity to create an equitable global tax system. We urge governments to explicitly incorporate gender considerations into all relevant provisions, ensuring that tax policies are designed to close inequalities, not widen them. Creating gender-equitable tax systems is not about removing explicit discrimination; it is about designing tax policies that close gender gaps.”

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Find more details about the ECOSOC meeting here.

About GATJ
The Global Alliance for Tax Justice (GATJ) is a South-led global coalition in the tax justice movement. Together we work for a world where progressive and redistributive tax policies counteract inequalities within and between countries, and generate the public funding needed to ensure essential services and human rights. Created in 2013, GATJ comprises regional tax justice networks in Asia (Tax & Fiscal Justice Asia), Africa (Tax Justice Network Africa), Latin America (Red de Justicia Fiscal de América Latina y el Caribe), Europe (Tax Justice-Europe) and North America (Canadians for Tax Fairness & FACT Coalition), collectively representing hundreds of organisations. GATJ coordinates the Tax and Gender Working Group (TGWG) and co-coordinates the Tax Justice Workstream of the CS FfD Mechanism.