Developing countries secure bigger international tax role for UN

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Countries at the UN have voted for it to take a greater role in international tax matters, in a move that threatens the ascendancy of the OECD, the body that has led these discussions for decades.

Developing nations have been pushing for a greater UN role after growing frustrated at global tax negotiations co-ordinated by the Paris-based OECD.

In 2021, more than 130 countries agreed a landmark deal aimed at curbing corporate tax avoidance by multinationals. But developing countries have complained they will receive relatively little revenue from the reforms compared with richer nations.

A vote held at the UN on Wednesday adopted a resolution that will begin the process of creating a greater role for the UN through establishing a convention on international tax co-operation.

The measure, which was championed by African countries, was supported by 125 nations, most of which were low or middle-income countries — including Nigeria, Ghana, China, India, Brazil and South Africa.

In contrast, most of the 48 nations that voted against the measure were developed countries, including EU member states, the US, UK, Japan and Korea. There were nine abstentions, including from OECD member states Norway, Iceland, Mexico and Turkey. Chile and Colombia, both OECD members, voted in support of the resolution.

The African Union said: “The decades-long fight of Global South countries to establish a fully inclusive process at the United Nations to participate in agenda setting and norm setting on international tax is now a reality.”

The union added that it looked forward to agreeing “an effective UN Framework Convention on International Tax Cooperation to urgently mobilise resources for our development”.

However, an EU official said that while EU countries supported “multilateralism and effective, inclusive international co-operation in tax matters”, the bloc did not believe the proposed convention would provide “the flexibility needed to reach consensus”.

A convention “would result in the duplication of ongoing or completed international standards”, the official said.

This person voiced concern that a new UN tax convention “could imply reopening negotiations, potentially on issues for which promising outcomes already exist, and for which a considerable network of agreements ensuring tax transparency and tax fairness has been built over the years, to the direct benefit of all participating countries”.

Mathias Cormann, head of the OECD, said in a statement posted on X that the OECD was “proud of its record of achieving consensus-based solutions to address tax evasion and avoidance, stabilise the international tax system and support developing countries”.

The OECD remained committed to implementing the global corporate tax deal, he said.

“We are committed to continue to collaborate with global partners — including at the UN — to strengthen inclusivity and continue to deliver a better and fairer international tax system,” Cormann added.

Espen Barth Eide, Norway’s foreign minister, told the Financial Times that the country had chosen to abstain and not vote against the resolution because it wanted to “send a signal” about building bridges with developing countries.

He said: “The world is unfortunately becoming more polarised and we are seeing an unhelpful division forming between the west and the rest. We want to connect through a more global agenda.”

“We don’t want to contribute to the divide,” he added, saying he “saluted the Africa Group for raising the issue as a global issue”.

Last year, 54 African countries successfully brought a resolution at the UN general assembly. This recommended that the UN secretary-general produce a report assessing ways to strengthen the “inclusiveness and effectiveness” of international tax co-operation.

The report laid out three options for giving the UN more of a role on the global tax stage — two legally binding, including the framework convention, and one voluntary option.