Between now and the end of 2027, the United Nations (UN) will negotiate a UN Tax Convention and two further protocols covering key issues, including taxation of multinational corporations, wealth taxes, environmental measures, and taxation and the digitalised economy. This decision follows three weeks of intense negotiations over the mandate for these new legally-binding agreements, during which all countries participated on an equal footing. On Friday night, a historic vote resulted in a landslide victory as 110 countries voted for the decision, with 44 abstentions and just eight countries voting against the final text.

Eurodad followed the negotiations in New York, and welcomes the historic UN decision as a beacon of hope for a fair and efficient global tax system, as well as a boost in funding for development, public services and environmental protection.

Tove Maria Ryding, Tax Coordinator at the European Network on Debt and Development (Eurodad) attended the negotiations in New York and commented on the new UN deal:

“This is a truly historic breakthrough for tax justice. Today, we have a deeply ineffective global tax system full of loopholes that allow the world’s richest individuals and large corporations to use tax havens and dodge taxes. At the same time, we have global tax rules that were developed behind closed doors in forums where developing countries could not participate on an equal footing. But now we have a transparent inclusive UN tax process where all countries can participate as equals and the public is able to see what their governments are saying on their behalf. This is a crucial and much needed step forward.

“The agreement adopted on Friday provides an ambitious mandate for new rules to address tax dodging by multinational corporations and wealthy individuals. It also states that the global tax rules should be effective, fair and promote sustainable development, including environmental protection. Our governments have already committed to ambitious goals on promoting education, healthcare, climate action and nature protection. But the lack of public funding causes a huge gap between aspirations and real action, and the UN Tax Convention is the missing link that can bridge that gap."

At the UN vote, eight countries - United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Japan, Israel, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand - voted against, while all EU Member States abstained.

Ryding continued:

“In November 2023, when the African countries first proposed to negotiate a UN Tax Convention, 48 developed countries voted against the motion. But once the UN negotiations began, all countries - including the no-voters, came to the table and participated very actively.

“Now we are down to just eight no-voters, and the EU countries have shifted from voting against to abstaining. This is rapid progress, but given that all these developed countries have been active and influential in the negotiations about the outcome, we see no excuse for them to vote anything but yes. It is also worth bearing in mind that international tax dodging is a problem that affects countries all around the world. Developed countries definitely have a strong interest in a coherent, fair and effective global tax system that tackles tax havens and promotes development and environmental protection. Therefore, all countries should support the negotiation of a fair, effective and ambitious UN Convention.”

ENDS

Media contact: Mary Stokes, Senior Communications Officer | [email protected] | Mobile: +32 491 14 66 56 | WhatsApp: +54 9 11 4401 2506

Notes to editors:

• The UN negotiations started on 29 July 2024 and ended with a vote on the final text on Friday 16 August. The final text can be found here: https://financing.desa.un.org/sites/default/files/2024-08/Chair%27s%20proposal%20draft%20ToR_L.4_15%20Aug%202024____.pdf and the voting result can be found here: https://x.com/toveryding/status/1824536607770415263
• An analysis of the text can be found in this Twitter-thread: https://x.com/toveryding/status/1824304150659698937
• In June 2024, over 200 civil society organisations and trade unions made a joint submission to the UN outlining the key issues that must be addressed by the Terms of Reference for the new UN Framework Convention on International Tax Cooperation. The submission can be found here: https://financing.desa.un.org/sites/default/files/2024-07/GATJ_Inputs_AHC%20Tax_2nd.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/second-session-inputs