Letter to Member States: Implementation of UN Resolution on International Tax Cooperation

Letter in English hereDownload

To the kind attention of: 

Permanent Representatives and Permanent Observers to the United Nations in New York 

United Nations Secretariat, Agencies and Programmes 

15 December 2022 

Subject: Implementation of UNGA Second Committee resolution on promotion of inclusive and effective international tax cooperation at the United Nations (A/C.2/77/L.11/Rev.1) 

Your Excellencies distinguished representatives of UN Member States, 

We, the undersigned civil society organisations and trade unions, strongly support and welcome the UNGA resolution on promotion of inclusive and effective international tax cooperation at the UN (A/C.2/77/L.11/Rev.1). We commend the Africa Group for its excellent leadership on this issue and for finally ensuring implementation of the long-standing demand of developing countries for a UN intergovernmental negotiation process on international tax1. We urge all UN Member States to maintain and reinforce the spirit of international cooperation that resulted in the adoption by consensus of this historic resolution.  

Furthermore, we are writing to you with a call for all governments to work constructively towards the urgent and efficient implementation of the resolution. This includes:  

1. Supporting a speedy approval in the UNGA Fifth Committee of the required budget allocation for the implementation of the resolution, in line with the related Programme budget implications analysis (A/C.2/77/L.75). The budget requirement, totaling US$ 432,700, was presented to Member States ahead of the adoption of the resolution. We now count on all UN Member States to stand by the consensus agreement reached with the resolution and confirm the allocation of the required resources. We also urge all UN Member States to keep in mind that international tax cooperation is urgently needed, not least to combat tax-related illicit financial flows, which are costing governments hundreds of billions of dollars in lost tax income every year. This must therefore be a matter of high importance and urgency. 

1. Supporting strong stakeholder involvement in the consultation process related to the UN Secretary General’s report as mandated by the resolution. We strongly welcome the fact that stakeholder consultation is explicitly included in the text of the resolution, and we stand ready to make our contributions. We, the undersigned civil society organisations and trade unions, bring in-depth knowledge from all regions of the world about the devastating impacts of the failure of international tax cooperation, including the continued bleeding of public resources in the form of illicit financial flows. We also bring concrete and specific proposals for solutions, including for how a future UN Convention on Tax could be designed.2  

1. Supporting a strong intergovernmental UN process to strengthen international tax cooperation. Through the resolution, all UN Member States have agreed to “begin intergovernmental discussions in New York at United Nations Headquarters on ways to strengthen the inclusiveness and effectiveness of international tax cooperation”. We strongly welcome this vital initiative, and stress the importance of moving forward with urgency. As stated in the adopted resolution, combating illicit financial flows is an essential development challenge, and developing countries are particularly susceptible to the negative impact of illicit financial flows. Therefore, we believe that the modalities for the foreseen process must be adopted as a matter of high priority, and this should take place no later than the seventy-eighth session of the UN General Assembly. Furthermore, we would like to stress the importance of ensuring that the modalities provide for a transparent and inclusive member state-led negotiation process with full participation of stakeholders, including civil society.  

Despite the fact that international tax rules and standards affect all countries and people of the world, there has until this point been no inclusive international body where all countries were able to participate on an equal footing in the decision-making on international tax matters. This injustice is at the heart of the failure of the international tax system, which has continued to be characterised by injustice, inefficiency, incoherence, unilateral actions and beggar-thy-neighbor policies. All countries have paid a high price for this failure, but the impacts on developing countries have been particularly hard. The UN remains the only truly universal body where all countries participate as equals, and the consensus adoption of the UN resolution, including the decision to begin intergovernmental discussions on international tax matters under the auspices of the UN, constitutes a truly historical shift towards fairness and inclusivity.  

The urgency of this matter cannot be overstated. In light of the Covid-19 pandemic and the “cost of living crisis”, the fight to increase domestic resource mobilisation and combat illicit financial flows has never been more vital. In 2021, the State of Tax Justice report estimated that countries around the world are losing over US$450 billion per year due to international tax dodging and abuse by multinational corporations and wealthy individuals.3 Faced with the challenges of financing the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals and combatting the global environmental crises, it is clear that the international community must take urgent action to strengthen international tax cooperation and stop the immense bleeding of public resources.  

We remain at your disposal if you would like to receive more information or would like to meet to discuss this issue further.  

Yours sincerely, 

Civil Society Financing for Development Group (www.csoforffd.org) 

Signatories 
 11.11.11 AbibiNsroma Foundation Actionaid Ágora México ALLIANCE CONTRE LA PAUVRETE AU MALI/GCAP/MALI Anticor APIT Asia Initiatives ASOCIACION MUJERES EMPRENDEDORAS DE ALTA VERAPAZ (MEAV) Association For Promotion Sustainable Development Attac Deutschland - AG Finanzmärkte und Steuern Attac Finland Bangladesh Unnayan Parishad CAFSO-WRAG for Development CCFD-Terre Solidaire CERDYSOC: Centre de Ressource et de Dynamisation de la Société Civile Christian Aid Ireland Civil Society Coalition on Sustainable Development CNCD-11.11.11 Congregation of Our Lady of Charity of the Good Shephed CRASH - Coalition for Research and Action for Social Justice and Human Dignity Creatura Think & Do Tank ry Daughters of Charity of Saint Vincent de Paul DAWN (Development Alternatives with Women for a New Era) DIAKONIA Disability Partnership Finland - Vammaiskumppanuus edmund rice international Equidad de Género: Ciudadanía, Trabajo y Familia European Network on Debt and Development (Eurodad) Federation of Environmental and Ecological Diversity for Agricultural Revampment and Human Rights, The (FEEDAR & HR) Financial Justice Ireland Financial Transparency Coalition Finnish Development NGOs Fingo Finnwatch GAP Italy GCAP Ghana Gcap-senegal GESTOS – HIV, Communication and Gender Gestos (soropositividade, comunicação, gênero) Global Alliance for Tax Justice Global Call to Action Against Poverty (GCAP) Global Policy Forum Halley Movement Coalition Initiative citoyenne pour l'environnement et le développement durable (ICED) Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary - Loreto Generalate Integrated Social Development Centre International Presentation Association ISER - Initiative for Social and Economic Rights Jubilee USA Network JustMoney Movement KAIROS EUROPE/Wallonie-Bruxelles LATINDADD - Latinamerican Network for Economic and Social Rights Lokichoggio PWDs Development Organization Lutte Nationale Contre la Pauvreté (LUNACOP/GCAP-RDC) Maailman musiikin keskus - Global Music Centre Maria Ebun Foundation Nigeria MLK: Maison de la Laïcité de Kinshasa National Campaign for Sustainable Development Nepal National Ethical Service Nepal Developmen Initiative Netzwerk Steuergerechtigkeit NGO fFederation of Nepal Norwegian Church Aid Norwegian Forum for Development and Environment OCTFI Oxfam Passionists International PRAKARSA PSI - Public Services International Red de Justicia Fiscal de América Latina y el Caribe ReFocus Consulting Regions Refocus RESEAU PRODDES Rural Area Development Programme (RADP) Salesian Missions, Inc. Save The Children Sisters of Charity Federation Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur ECOSOC SocDevJustice Society for International Development (SID) SOMO Southern and Eastern Africa Trade Information and Negotiations Institute (SEATINI) Uganda Stamp Out Poverty TAFJA (Tax and Fiscal Justice Asia) Tax Justice Coalition, Ghana Tax Justice Europe Tax Justice Netherlands Tax Justice Network Tax Justice Network Africa Tax Justice Norway Tax Justice UK Tax Reconcilaitions - Oxford UK TaxEd Alliance The Bretton Woods Project Transparency International Slovenia Union des Amis Socio Culturels d'Action en Developpement (UNASCAD) Vienna Institute for International Dialogue and Cooperation (VIDC) VIVAT International Wada Na Todo Abhiyan Wemos Women First International Fund World Economy, Ecology and Development - WEED