On 14 October 2024 a Resolution was drafted by Nigeria on behalf of the Africa group at the UN, to adopt the terms of reference for the UN Framework Convention on International Tax Cooperation. The draft Resolution referred to the work of the Ad Hoc Committee on the Framework Convention which completed its work in the summer and issued a report on 15 August 2024 establishing the Terms of Reference. The latest Resolution was to establish an intergovernmental negotiating committee for the purpose of drafting the Framework Convention and two early Protocols.
The draft Resolution established that the intergovernmental negotiating committee would meet in 2025, 2026 and 2027 for at least three sessions per year. The negotiating committee would hold an organizational session from 3 to 6 February 2025, and there would be further sessions in May, August and November 2025.
The membership of the intergovernmental negotiating committee would include a Chair and eighteen members chosen on the basis of equitable geographical representation. Participation would be encouraged from international organizations, civil society and other relevant stakeholders, with support from a technical secretariat. The negotiating committee would submit the final text of the Framework Convention and the two early Protocols to the General Assembly at its eighty-second session.
The Resolution called on UN Member States and other stakeholders to help ensure the full and effective participation of developing countries in the negotiation of the Framework Convention. This could be done through the provision of financial support and by support with capacity-building.
The Terms of Reference for the Framework Convention established that there would be two early Protocols to be developed at the same time as the Convention. One of the Protocols was to address the taxation of income derived from the provision of cross-border services in the digitalized and globalized economy. The latest Resolution determines that the subject of the second early Protocol will be decided at the meeting of the intergovernmental negotiating committee in February 2025.
The establishment of the negotiating committee on the Framework Convention follows on from earlier UN Resolutions on the promotion of inclusive and effective tax cooperation at the UN. The report of 15 August 2024 by the Ad Hoc Committee outlined that the Framework Convention would include commitments on the fair allocation of taxing rights and fair taxation of multinationals; address tax evasion and avoidance by high-net worth individuals; contribute to the achievement of sustainable development; ensure effective mutual administrative assistance in tax matters, including transparency and exchange of information for tax purposes; address tax-related illicit financial flows, tax avoidance, tax evasion and harmful tax practices; and provide for effective prevention and resolution of tax disputes.