The intergovernmental negotiating committee (INC) met in February 2026 to continue discussions on the UN Framework Convention on International Tax Cooperation and the two early Protocols on taxation of cross-border services and tax dispute resolution. The INC is committed to meeting for at least three sessions each year, aiming to finalise the Convention and the two early Protocols by 2027. The work would then be presented to the UN General Assembly for approval.
The draft Framework Convention, published for discussion before the meeting, contains a number of draft articles reflecting previous discussions. The draft Convention provides that the signatories would agree to pursue international tax cooperation to contribute to achieving the sustainable development goals.
An article would cover the fair allocation of taxing rights, giving jurisdictions the right to tax a portion of the income generated where value is created, markets are located, revenues are generated or economic activities take place. Discussions have looked at the best way of defining the nexus for application of tax in a jurisdiction, going beyond a physical permanent establishment and taking into account how revenue is generated in the global, digital economy. The relationship between this nexus and Article 5 (permanent establishment) of the UN Model Tax Convention would need to be clarified.
The draft Convention also provides for developing and implementing measures to detect, deter and prevent tax avoidance and evasion by high‑net‑worth individuals. The Convention would require signatories to share information on the structures and techniques used by wealthy individuals and explore coordinated approaches to ensuring effective taxation.
Illicit financial flows (IFFs) are seen by the Africa group at the UN as a significant problem, leading to sizeable losses of revenue for governments on the continent. The draft Convention would provide for the signatories to develop and implement measures to combat tax-related IFFs, including effective tools for their detection and prevention. Detection and enforcement could be improved through mutual administrative assistance and exchange of information. The definition of tax-related IFFs would be broad, encompassing flows resulting from tax avoidance and evasion and any other illegal financial flows related to taxation.
The draft Convention provides for two separate articles dealing with mutual administrative assistance and exchange of information, but there has been discussion on whether these should be merged into one article. There is considerable overlap between administrative assistance and information exchange, but a separate article would allow information exchange to be set out in more detail in the Convention. The provisions of the article on mutual administrative assistance draw on the experience of countries with the Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance on Tax Matters. The article refers to the exchange of information but also covers assistance in tax collection, simultaneous joint tax audits and powers to conduct a tax examination abroad.
The article on exchange of information would commit signatories to share information on the types of asset and instrument that could be used by taxpayers to sidestep the automatic exchange of information. Countries would also share transaction information that could be used to detect illicit financial flows. There would be safeguards in relation to use of the information obtained, but these safeguards could not be used by tax administrations to avoid their responsibilities under the article.
Harmful tax practices would be combated by ensuring increased transparency and implementing measures for monitoring and identification of the harmful practices, allowing more effective taxation.
A draft article in the Convention would set out ways to coordinate capacity building and technical assistance. The article builds on the existing capacity development work being done by the UN and other international organisations, including Tax Inspectors Without Borders (TIWB). The committee recognises that tax administrations with low resources and capacity require support in building capacity, and the need for support would increase as a result of the need to implement further provisions on international tax cooperation required by the Convention.
