An Intergovernmental UN Tax Body – why we need it and how we can get it
The Group of 77, representing more than 130 developing countries, have repeatedly proposed the establishment of an intergovernmental body under the United Nations (UN), to fix the broken global tax system. This briefing details ten reasons why this proposal would benefit everyone – and how it can be done.
Reasons why the proposal is necessary include establishing a coherent global system, ending the race to the bottom on tax and levelling the playing field between large transnational corporations and national companies and small and medium sized businesses.
This briefing also discusses what is wrong with the current system: That the international tax system is managed by a club of rich countries as ‘rule makers’, with developing countries excluded from decision making as mere ‘rule-takers’. What is need to remedy the weaknesses of this system is an intergovernmental, universal, adequately resourced global tax body, backed by technical expertise and established under the auspices of the UN.
The ultimate aim of this body would be to stop tax dodging by getting governments to commit to not eroding each other’s tax base. It would achieve this by addressing fundamental problems in the systems, including harmful tax practices, beneficial ownership transparency and public country by country reporting, and by establishing a legally binding UN Tax Convention.