The UN Framework Convention on International Tax Cooperation: Potential Gains and Pitfalls скачать в хорошем качестве

The UN Framework Convention on International Tax Cooperation: Potential Gains and Pitfalls

On 6 November 2025, the Taxation Law and Policy Program of the Melbourne Centre for Commercial Law hosted the 2025 Annual Tax Lecture titled 'The UN Framework Convention on International Tax Cooperation: Potential Gains and Pitfalls' presented by Professor Annet Wanyana Oguttu, Director of African Tax Institute at the University of Pretoria. Historically, there has not been a legally constituted international tax body designated to set international tax norms. Instead, over the past century, international bodies such as the OECD and the UN undertook various initiatives in international tax cooperation. However, the effectiveness of these international bodies in international tax cooperation have been hampered and increasingly concerns have been expressed from developing countries about their legitimacy and inclusivity. The tide changed in 2022 when the UN General Assembly passed a resolution on the “promotion of inclusive and effective international tax cooperation”, to be affected through a “UN Framework Convention on International Tax Cooperation” (UNFCITC) which will be accompanied with protocols (separate legally binding instruments) to regulate specific tax matters. A “Member State-led, open-ended ad hoc intergovernmental committee” which was established in 2023, set the terms of reference which provide that the objective of the UNFCITC is to establish a system of governance for international tax cooperation. A “Member State-led intergovernmental negotiating committee” was established with the mandate to draft the text of the UNFCITC and two early protocols, and present them to the UN General Assembly for its consideration in the first quarter of its eighty-second session in 2027. This annual tax lecture considers the justifications of the UNFCITC, its potential gains and pitfalls in achieving sustainable international tax cooperation.