New York, 25 April 2024 – The first substantial round of negotiations on the Terms of Reference for the UN Framework Convention on International Tax Cooperation begins Friday 26 April at the UN Headquarters in New York. The negotiations will last until 8 May with the goal to deliver a draft Terms of Reference for the Convention by the end of August 2024.
The negotiations will cover the structure of the UN Tax Convention and issues of wealth, environment, and corporate taxation. Addressing these issues at the international level is necessary for effective action. Corporate tax abuse leads to the loss of $483 billion USD each year. This tax abuse disproportionately deprives Global South countries of finance for critical public services. These historic negotiations will allow for all countries to participate in decision-making on global tax rules.
The Africa Group tabled the resolution which mandated the negotiations in November 2023. The resolution was successfully passed with a majority vote, despite being voted against by many OECD countries. Consensus was then reached during negotiations on the organisational matters in February 2024.
Commenting on the upcoming negotiations, Dereje Alemayehu, Executive Coordinator of the Global Alliance for Tax Justice (GATJ), said:
“If the Financing for Development (FFD) process has not delivered since Addis, it’s because nothing happened during this period to make international tax cooperation inclusive and effective. The intergovernmental tax negotiations at the UN beginning today opens a historic opportunity to do exactly this.”
ENDS
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Notes to the Editors
The negotiations will be open to participation by civil society, journalists and other interested actors, as well as live-streamed on UN Web TV.
Updates from the UN Tax Convention negotiations can be found on https://financing.desa.un.org/un-tax-convention
In March 2024, over 170 civil society organisations and trade unions made a joint submission to the UN outlining the key issues that must be address by the new UN Framework Convention on International Tax Cooperation. The submission can be found here: https://financing.desa.un.org/sites/default/files/2024-03/Civil%20Society%20Financing%20for%20Development%20Mechanism_Input_AHC%20Tax_2.pdf
A number of governments and other actors have also submitted their positions on the UN tax negotiations – the full list of submissions can be found here: https://financing.desa.un.org/un-tax-convention/inputs
The mandate for the UN tax negotiations is UN General Assembly resolution 78/230, which can be found here: https://financing.desa.un.org/sites/default/files/2024-01/A.RES_.78.230_English.pdf
The voting record from the UN General Assembly shows how governments voted when the resolution was adopted by the 2nd Committee of the UN General Assembly in November 2023. The voting record can be found here (paragraph 9): https://undocs.org/en/A/78/459/Add.8
About the Global Alliance for Tax Justice
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.
Media Contact
Alexandra Wenzel – Global Communications Coordinator, Global Alliance for Tax Justice – [email protected] / Whatsapp +41 778233732