A meeting of the UN’s Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) is to take place on 29 May 2013 to discuss the issue of international cooperation in taxation issues and the structural arrangements put in place to encourage this cooperation. Tax administration representatives will be present to consider a report issued by the Secretary General in respect of developments in strengthening the work of the Committee of Experts on International Cooperation in Tax Matters and in particular its coordination with international and regional organizations.

The meeting will also officially launch the new UN Practical Manual on Transfer Pricing for Developing Countries, a manual providing guidance on best practice in approaches to transfer pricing and giving examples of legislation and practice in developing countries such as China, India and Brazil. A panel discussion on transfer pricing challenges for developing countries will follow the launch of the manual.

There will also be a panel discussion on the subject of capacity development in tax matters. Contributions to the discussion will be made by representatives from the UN, IMF, World Bank, OECD, African Tax Administration Forum and Inter-American Centre of Tax Administrations (CIAT).  This will be followed by a further panel discussion on current issues in countering international tax avoidance and tax evasion. The latter discussion will include discussion of base erosion and profit shifting, which has been the subject of a recent report by the OECD and has been discussed by the G20 group of countries.