A/RES/78/230 GA

United Nations A/RES/78/230 General Assembly Distr.: General 28 December 2023 23-26269 (E) 090124 *2326269* Seventy-eighth session Agenda item 16 (h) Macroeconomic policy questions: promotion of inclusive and effective international cooperation on tax matters at the United Nations Resolution adopted by the General Assembly on 22 December 2023 [on the report of the Second Committee (A/78/459/Add.8, para. 12)] 78/230. Promotion of inclusive and effective international tax cooperation at the United Nations The General Assembly, Guided by the purposes and principles enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations, Reiterating the timeliness and importance of strengthening international tax cooperation to make it fully inclusive and more effective, both in procedural and substantive terms, so that Governments may better cooperate in generating financing for development, including through combating illicit financial flows, recovering and returning stolen assets, promoting financial integrity for sustainable development and improving public institutions, Noting the corrosive effect that aggressive tax avoidance and tax evasion have on trust, the social compact, financial integrity, the rule of law and sustainable development, affecting the poorest and most vulnerable, Reaffirming its resolution 69/313 of 27 July 2015 on the Addis Ababa Action Agenda of the Third International Conference on Financing for Development, in which Member States committed to scaling up international tax cooperation, encouraged countries, in accordance with their national capacities and circumstances, to work together to strengthen transparency and adopt appropriate policies, including multinational enterprises reporting country-by-country to tax authorities where they operate, access to beneficial ownership information for competent authorities, and progressively advancing towards automatic exchange of tax information among tax authorities as appropriate, with assistance to developing countries, especially the least developed, as needed, and stressed that efforts in international tax cooperation should A/RES/78/230 Promotion of inclusive and effective international tax cooperation at the United Nations 23-26269 2/5 be universal in approach and scope and should fully take into account the different needs and capacities of all countries, in particular countries in special situations, Recalling its resolution 77/244 of 30 December 2022, in which it decided to begin intergovernmental discussions at United Nations Headquarters on ways to strengthen the inclusiveness and effectiveness of international tax cooperation through the evaluation of additional options, including the possibility of developing an international tax cooperation framework or instrument that is developed and agreed upon through a United Nations intergovernmental process, taking into full consideration existing international and multilateral arrangements, Acknowledging that increasing the legitimacy, stability, resilience and fairness of international tax rules is in the common interest of all relevant stakeholders in tax systems and requires scaling up international tax cooperation by establishing the legal basis for fully inclusive and more effective international tax cooperation in terms of substance and process, giving due consideration to the value of coherent and consistent international tax rules while also respecting the tax sovereignty of each Member State, Recognizing that respect for tax sovereignty implies international tax cooperation that allows all countries to effectively participate in developing the rules, by right and without preconditions, and adapt and implement them in accordance with their needs and preferences, Recognizing also that inclusive and effective participation in international tax cooperation implies that procedures should take into account the different needs, priorities and capacities of all countries to meaningfully contribute to the norm- setting processes, without undue restrictions, and support them in doing so, including giving them an opportunity to participate in agenda-setting, debates and decision- making, either directly or through country groupings, according to their preference, Recognizing further that inclusiveness in international tax cooperation also involves capacity-building and support to developing countries so that they can effectively participate in the full range of international tax cooperation in an equitable manner, while stressing that capacity-building efforts should fully take into account the needs and priorities of developing countries, Recognizing that agenda-setting is an important procedural aspect because the way in which tax challenges requiring collective action are identified and framed often predetermines the scope and nature of the responses to these challenges, as well as the order of priority for dealing with them, Stressing that a fully inclusive and effective international tax cooperation requires well-established and transparent decision-making structures, and clear and transparent rules, in order to ensure that all participants are on an equal footing procedurally and have the same ability to engage meaningfully in decision-making, as well as clear and cohesive multilateral rules to aid countries and businesses and to prevent opportunities for tax avoidance, Recognizing that an inclusive and effective international tax cooperation system requires robust processes for preventing and resolving tax disputes in an effective manner, and keeping in mind that developing countries have limited resources to handle costly international dispute settlement processes, Recognizing also the important role of taxation to close the sustainable development financing gap, which requires actions at all levels, international, regional and national, and on many fronts, including corporate tax, personal income tax, consumption taxes such as value-added taxes, strengthened and digitalized tax administrations and effective taxation of extractives, Promotion of inclusive and effective international tax cooperation at the United Nations A/RES/78/230 3/5 23-26269 Emphasizing that international tax rules must respond to the needs, priorities and capacities of all countries and appropriately address the ways in which modern markets operate and business is done, as part of a major overhaul of the international financial architecture, Emphasizing also that a United Nations intergovernmental process for tax-norm shaping and rule-setting, with full consideration of existing multilateral and international arrangements, would leverage existing strengths and address gaps and weaknesses in current international tax cooperation efforts and arrangements, Noting that its resolution 69/313 also commits Member States to working to improve the fairness, transparency, efficiency and effectiveness of their tax systems, Recognizing the need for all countries to work together to eliminate tax evasion, tax base erosion and profit shifting and to ensure that all taxpayers, especially multinational companies and transnational corporations, pay taxes to the Governments of countries where economic activity occurs, value is created and from where revenues are generated, in accordance with national and international laws and policies, Noting that the implementation of the Addis Ababa Action Agenda and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development may be further supported by additional domestic resource mobilization, Noting also the work of the Committee of Experts on International Cooperation in Tax Matters and the 2023 special meeting of the Economic and Social Council on international cooperation in tax matters, Noting further the work of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development/Group of 20 Inclusive Framework on Base Erosion and Profit Shifting and the subsequent ongoing work on the two-pillar solution, noting that it facilitates collaboration for tackling tax avoidance and improving the coherence of international tax rules, Noting the implementation of the Standard for Automatic Exchange of Financial Account Information in Tax Matters under a common reporting standard developed by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, as well as the role of the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes, Noting also the work of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development on establishing value-added tax guidelines in the context of e-commerce and the bilateral and multilateral technical assistance programmes provided to countries in support of their implementation, Noting further that expert assessments suggest that an increase in the tax-to- gross domestic product ratio could also be feasible for low-income developing countries and emerging market economies through a combination of tax system reform and institutional capacity-building, Recalling the work of the Platform for Collaboration on Tax, which is to intensify collaboration and coordination on tax issues between the United Nations, the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank Group and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, Noting the work and collaboration between the United Nations Development Programme and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development in the joint Tax Inspectors Without Borders programmes, and stressing that similar efforts should be strengthened, Recognizing the Group of 20 leaders’ commitment to continue cooperation towards a globally fair, sustainable and modern international tax system appropriate to the needs of the twenty-first century during their summit held in New Delhi on 9 A/RES/78/230 Promotion of inclusive and effective international tax cooperation at the United Nations 23-26269 4/5 and 10 September 2023, and noting the accession of the African Union as a permanent member of the Group of 20 during the same summit, Noting the work of the Addis Tax Initiative in fostering collective action to strengthen the capacities of developing countries for closing recognized gaps in development finance, Noting also the work of the African Union, in collaboration with other pan-African institutions, in promoting international cooperation to fight illicit financial flows, including the decision by the Assembly of the African Union at its thirty-sixth ordinary session, held in Addis Ababa on 18 and 19 February 2023, to curb illicit financial flows that drain substantial financial resources from Africa that could otherwise be employed for economic and social development, Noting the recent creation of the Regional Platform for Tax Cooperation in Latin America and the Caribbean with the purpose of contributing to the collective search for solutions to the key fiscal issues of developing countries and of achieving equitable tax policies that are conducive to growth, the reduction of inequalities and the financing of the Sustainable Development Goals, Recalling the commitment of Member States under the Addis Ababa Action Agenda to redouble efforts to substantially reduce illicit financial flows by 2030, with a view to eventually eliminating them, including by combating tax evasion and corruption through strengthened national regulation and increased international cooperation, Recommitting to strengthening the capacities of revenue administrations, and calling upon the international community to scale up support for related technological, institutional and human capacity-building to countries and to explore digitalization as a tool to optimize the efficiency of tax systems, Taking note of the report of the Secretary-General on the promotion of inclusive and effective international tax cooperation at the United Nations, 1 1. Emphasizes that developing a United Nations framework convention on international tax cooperation is needed in order to strengthen international tax cooperation and make it fully inclusive and more effective; 2. Recognizes that developing a framework convention will also help in accelerating the implementation of the Addis Ababa Action Agenda on Financing for Development and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development; 3. Decides to establish a Member State-led, open-ended ad hoc intergovernmental committee for the purpose of drafting terms of reference for a United Nations framework convention on international tax cooperation; 4. Also decides that the ad hoc intergovernmental committee shall convene in New York for up to 15 working days at a time, within available time frames, and with the contribution of international organizations and civil society, in accordance with established practice, and shall hold its organizational session as soon as possible with a view to finalizing the work of the committee by August 2024; 5. Further decides that the bureau of the ad hoc intergovernmental committee shall be made up of not more than 20 members, consisting of a chair, vice-chairs and a rapporteur, elected on the basis of balanced geographical representation and taking into account gender balance, with each of the five regional groups equally represented; __________________ 1 A/78/235. Promotion of inclusive and effective international tax cooperation at the United Nations A/RES/78/230 5/5 23-26269 6. Requests the ad hoc intergovernmental committee, in elaborating the draft terms of reference for a framework convention: (a) To take into account the needs, priorities and capacities of all countries, in particular developing countries; (b) To take a holistic, sustainable development perspective that considers interactions with other important economic, social and environmental policy areas; (c) To consider the need for sufficient flexibility and resilience in the international tax system to ensure equitable results as technology and business models and the international tax cooperation landscapes evolve; (d) To take into consideration the work of other relevant forums, potential synergies and the existing tools, strengths, expertise and complementarities available in the multiple institutions involved in tax cooperation at the international, regional and local levels; (e) To consider simultaneously developing early protocols, while elaborating the framework convention, on specific priority issues, such as measures against tax- related illicit financial flows and the taxation of income derived from the provision of cross-border services in an increasingly digitalized and globalized economy; 7. Requests the Secretary-General to allocate the necessary resources to support the work of the ad hoc intergovernmental committee; 8. Requests the ad hoc intergovernmental committee to submit a report to the General Assembly at its seventy-ninth session, containing the draft terms of reference for a United Nations framework convention; 9. Decides to consider the report of the ad hoc intergovernmental committee at its seventy-ninth session and to include in the provisional agenda of its seventy- ninth session, under the item entitled “Macroeconomic policy questions”, the sub-item entitled “Promotion of inclusive and effective international cooperation on tax matters at the United Nations”. 50th (resumed) plenary meeting 22 December 2023

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