International tax dodging, corporate tax reform, wealth taxes and environmental tax issues were all on the agenda of the first substantial negotiating round of the new UN Tax Convention process, which ended yesterday in New York. The process includes all 193 Member States of the United Nations, and at the final plenary today, all countries reached a consensus agreement on a roadmap towards the next – and final – negotiating round, starting in July 2024.

Tove Maria Ryding, Tax Coordinator at the European Network on Debt and Development (Eurodad) attended the negotiating session in New York and commented:

“In countries all over the world, the wealthiest individuals and corporations are using international loopholes in the global system to dodge taxes. For the first time in history, we  finally have a real chance of getting an effective and fair global solution. The importance of the UN Tax Convention process cannot be overstated, and we are delighted to see things moving forward.

“The proposal to develop a UN Tax Convention came from the Africa Group, which continues to play a very crucial and leading role in the negotiations. While most OECD countries, including the European Union, voted against the Africa Group’s proposal in 2023, they have since come back to the negotiating table, and they are now reluctantly engaging in the process. It has been quite absurd and sad to see their hesitation, because the failure of the global tax system is a problem that has major impacts on people in all regions of the world, and we are in urgent need of solutions. But despite their initial feet-dragging, several EU countries are now finally putting forward proposals for what a UN Tax Convention could help resolve, including important issues such as promotion of wealth taxes and environmental tax issues. This is a positive reminder of the fact that a fair, ambitious and effective UN Tax Convention would be a big step forward for everybody.”

The next step in the process will be the publication of a negotiating text in early June 2024. The countries will then reconvene in New York in July to continue the negotiations, with the aim of delivering draft Terms of Refence for a UN Framework Convention on International Tax Cooperation by the end of August 2024.

Ryding said: “This Tax Convention Process is history in the making, and it is extremely encouraging to see it moving forward. But time is of the essence. The best estimates we have show that every day, over a billion dollars is lost due to international tax abuse by the world’s wealthiest individuals and corporations. There really is no time to lose, and we strongly urge all governments to keep up the spirit of cooperation and deliver a UN Tax Convention as soon as possible.”

ENDS

Media contact: Julia Ravenscroft, Communications Manager, Eurodad: [email protected]/ +44 7958 184 695.

Notes to editors

The videos from the recent UN Tax Convention negotiations are all available on the UN website. This includes discussions on taxation of multinational corporations, as well as wealth and environmental tax issues.

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 addressed 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