NEW YORK, February 13, 2026 – From February 2nd to 13th, the 4th session of negotiations for a UN Framework Convention on International Tax Cooperation (UN Tax Convention) took place at the UN Headquarters in New York. The session covered the Framework Convention and two early protocols, making progress on the core issues of the broken international tax system. 

“The negotiations have entered a decisive phase; the process is heating up with important proposals being discussed on topics from taxing the rich to fairly allocating taxing rights,” commented Dr. Dereje Alemayehu, Executive Coordinator of the Global Alliance for Tax Justice (GATJ), at the close of the 4th session of negotiations. 

The first week of the negotiations went to the heart of the Framework Convention: the text of the legally-binding commitments. Ensuring a fair allocation of taxing rights was a key debate, with further text still needed on the topic as well as taxing multinational corporations. The issue of taxation for sustainable development was also discussed, with substance not yet in the text. Important proposals were made on taxing high net-worth individuals. 

“The Africa Group has again been a leader in this process that has been championed by the Global South,” shared Dr. Alemayehu on the state of play in the negotiations. “Unfortunately, Global North countries have repeated the same tired line of ‘duplication.’ This argument, especially after the exemption of U.S. multinationals from the OECD Pillar 2, is only an attempt to maintain the broken status quo. Yet, the current system does not work for anyone, with billions lost in both the Global South and the Global North. These negotiations are a real chance to fix the global tax rules. Now, as the process moves forward, it is in the interest of Global North countries to stop reducing ambition and create proposals that work for all.”

The next session of negotiations will take place in August 2026, when a final draft negotiating text of the Framework Convention is expected. Now all countries, especially those in the Global North, must come together and work in good faith to deliver an international tax system for sustainable development, the mandate of the UN General Assembly.

“All governments need to capitalize on this historic opportunity; the world cannot afford delay,” urged Dr. Alemayehu. 

Ends

Media Contact: Alexandra Wenzel, GATJ Global Communications Coordinator,  +41 77 813 37 32 (WhatsApp), [email protected]

Experts from GATJ’s Secretariat and regional networks Tax and Fiscal Justice Asia (TAFJA), Red de Justicia Fiscal de America Latina y el Caribe (RJFALC), Tax Justice Network Africa (TJNA), and Tax Justice Europe (TJ-E) attended the negotiations and are available to provide media comment and expert analysis. 

For more information on the negotiations: 

• From 2025 to mid-2027 negotiations are taking place to develop new global tax rules through a legally binding UN Framework Convention on International Tax Cooperation. The negotiations were initiated by the Africa Group with the support of the G77 to address structural flaws in the international tax system, a system characterized by rampant tax abuse by multinational corporations and the rich, a complex web of thousands of bilateral tax treaties, and the exclusion of Global South countries from tax rule-making. These negotiations have been actively championed by civil society for the potential to create fair and effective global tax rules, unlocking hundreds of billions in public financing urgently needed for development, public services, climate action, and gender equality. The mandate for the negotiations is here.
• In the first week of UN tax negotiations governments discussed the text of the legally binding commitments in the draft Framework Convention including: a fair allocation of taxing rights; taxation of high-net worth individuals; sustainable development; harmful tax practices; and tax-related illicit financial flows, tax avoidance and tax evasion. The taxation of multinational corporations was missing from the draft text. The Co-Lead’s Draft Framework Convention Template is here. 
• The second week of the session covered the first proposal on the taxation of cross-border services, with the options paper here as well as the second early protocol on the prevention and resolution of tax disputes, concept note here. 
• More details on the 4th session of negotiations can be found on the UN website here.