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African countries are pushing for a platform at the United Nations that would provide them an opportunity to discuss global tax rules on an equal footing.
The tax rules would enable them to address issues such as tax avoidance, double taxation, tax evasion, and illicit financial flows.
Last September during the United Nations General Assembly, developing countries pushed for the inclusion of the United Nations Framework Convention on International Tax Cooperation.
The UNFCITC is a proposed new legal instrument intended to better coordinate international tax policy.
The UN tax framework aims at making international tax cooperation fully inclusive and more effective.
“This Convention is a fight for developing countries to reclaim their taxing rights,” said Jane Nalunga, Executive Director, Southern and Eastern Africa Trade Information and Negotiations Institute.
“For now the global tax system and international rulemaking is controlled by the OECD, which is an exclusive club, inside which developing countries do not have a voice.”
Countries voted 125 to 48 to adopt a resolution tabled by Nigeria in September 2023, on behalf of African member states, calling for a UN tax convention that could drastically change how global tax rules are set.
Nine countries including the UK, the US, and the entire European Union bloc abstained from the vote, which was held in New York on November 22.
The unprecedented step is the latest development in a heated debate over whether the United Nations can deliver better representation on international tax matters for developing countries than the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.
“The UN Tax framework will enable developing countries to discuss global tax rules on an equal footing.
“So it is an issue of transparency, inclusion and being on the table. This will ensure that the taxing rights of developing countries are not sidelined.” — The East African.
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Bongani Ndlovu
Online Reporter