Countries failed to agree to a proposal to upgrade the UN Committee of Experts on International Cooperation in Tax Matters to a more powerful UN intergovernmental body during the United Nations Third International Conference on Financing for Development held this week in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Under the proposal, promoted heavily by developing nations and international charities, the UN tax committee’s current members, who work as experts their personal capacities, would be replaced with members that represent individual governments, giving the body greater political power.
According to Action Aid and other charities, though, the proposed upgrade was blocked by the US, EU, Canada, and other wealthy nations, which prefer that the world’s tax standards be written only by the OECD.
The UN agreement instead calls for “strengthening support for the work” of the UN tax committee, according to a July 15 statement on the UN website.
Countries also agreed to “an array of measures aimed at widening the revenue base, improving tax collection, and combating tax evasion and illicit financial flows,” the UN said.
Tove Maria Ryding, Policy and Advocacy Manager of the European Network on Debt and Development said it is “a tragic day for all of us, because a global tax system where half of the world’s countries are excluded from decision-making will never be effective. As long as our governments keep failing to cooperate on tax matters, multinational corporations will be able to dodge taxes.”
The Committee of Experts on International Cooperation in Tax Matters is responsible for preparing key UN tax documents such as the UN Model Double Taxation Convention between Developed and Developing Countries and the United Nations Practical Manual on Transfer Pricing for Developing Countries. It also works on tax issues associated with the extractive industry, exchange of information, and capacity building.
See:
Related MNE Tax articles:
Be the first to comment