Since last year, UN member states have been negotiating the UN tax convention between Nairobi and New York. In view of the growing challenges posed by an increasingly dehumanizing, extractive global capitalism that exploits and oppresses the vast majority of people for the benefit of the few, this seems to be a step in the right direction. After all, tax justice is about nothing less than fundamental systemic issues of global social justice, climate justice, and equality.
In November 2024, the United Nations General Assembly voted overwhelmingly to adopt the resolution Promotion of inclusive and effective international tax cooperation (A/RES/79/235) and thus to fundamentally overhaul the current international tax system. This decision was based on an initiative by the so-called Africa Group. With its Terms of Reference (ToR), the resolution sets the framework for negotiations on the UN Tax Convention, or more precisely, the United Nations Framework Convention on International Tax Cooperation (UNTC), which is intended to serve as the basis for a new system of global taxation and international cooperation in this area, integrated into the structures of the UN. A key innovation is that principles 9(c), (d), and (f) of the ToR establish a functional relationship between taxes and human rights, as well as taxation for the purpose of sustainable development. It states:
Efforts to achieve the objectives of the framework convention should therefore:
(…)
(c) Be aligned, in the pursuit of international tax cooperation, with States’
obligations under international human rights law;
(d) Take a holistic, sustainable development perspective that covers in a
balanced and integrated manner economic, social and environmental policy aspects;
(f) Contribute to achieving sustainable development by ensuring fairness in
allocation of taxing rights under the international tax system
(…)
It is therefore no longer just a matter of securing national tax sovereignty, allocating taxation rights and avoiding double taxation, as is usually the case in international tax law, but rather of progressively realizing economic, social and cultural human rights for all.
The UN tax convention thus calls into question the current OECD regime, which has long been (rightly) criticized by various parties. It addresses issues of international cooperation, fair taxation of economic activities, profits, aassets of both private individuals (especially high net worth individuals, HNWIs) and companies (especially multinational enterprises, MNEs), and the fight against tax abuses, i.e., tax avoidance and tax evasion. The question of a wealth tax for the super-rich is also to be covered by the UN tax law convention, yet is a highly contested topic.
It is significant that only nine countries voted against the resolution, including the UK, Australia, Canada, and the US. EU countries such as France and Germany abstained. Economically powerful countries and companies, especially from Europe and the US, have since been trying to halt or dominate the process in their favor. They are keen to maintain existing bilateral treaty regimes and the OECD system. This position has been repeatedly evident in the negotiations and objections that have been taking place since 2025, e.g., against the superimposition of new and legally binding obligations from the UNTC on existing tax law principles such as the arm’s length principle, as well as existing bilateral treaty agreements and/or regulations within the framework of the OECD.
There is therefore a risk that this historic opportunity will be missed and, in the worst case, that a fundamentally unjust global world order of the strong and rich will continue to consolidate, societies continue to be shaped by a “ race to the bottom” and increasing racist fascism, especially among the middle class, which still does not seem to understand that it too belongs to the losing class of these developments[SI1] , and an economically dehumanizing competition with serious consequences for the poorest, weakest, and disenfranchised of this world.
Not only, but especially from a decolonial perspective, this opposition is not surprising. Even in the days of the League of Nations, cooperation in tax matters was an international issue that fell under the jurisdiction of the League of Nations and later the United Nations. Decolonization processes and the establishment of newly independent states in formerly colonized regions of the world threatened the economic supremacy of former colonial powers in particular. Together with other Western states such as the US, they therefore decided to outsource these issues to the OECD, which was newly founded for this purpose in 1961. Scholars such as Steven Dean (“ Racial Capitalism and International Tax Law“) have impressively traced this development and critically examined it with a view to its far-reaching (structural) consequences for the present.
This is not the only reason why the UNTC negotiations, which will continue until 2027, represent an opportunity that must be seized, particularly from the perspective of the marginalized and an understanding of international law as “ from the margins , and in solidarity.” Civil society must be involved, the process must be transparent, and representatives from civil society must have access to information. This, too, is part of protecting human rights.
Irene Ovonji-Odida, Chair of the Tax Justice Network and member of the AU/ECA High Level Panel on Illicit Financial Flows from Africa (also known as the Mbeki Panel), says:
“This is a watershed moment. The world has lived through a century of international tax rules being set by a small group of countries—first at the League of Nations, and then at the OECD—and the effect has been an explosion in tax revenues lost to the abusive practices of multinational corporations and wealthy individuals hiding their assets offshore. Ordinary citizens, workers, and domestic companies everywhere are the losers, including those from OECD countries. Now, finally, we will all negotiate together to set rules that work for everyone. Everyone except the tax abusers!“
Organizations such as the Global Alliance for Tax Justice (GATJ), Tax Justice Network (TJN), Tax Justice Network Africa (TJNA), Center for Economic Social & Cultural Rights (CESR), Oxfam, Greenpeace, and, for Germany, the Tax Justice Network are doing important work on the issue of tax justice and the negotiations on the UNTC. Contrary to what is often claimed, taxes and (international) tax law are not a closed, technical field. This statement is a red herring intended to preserve existing decision-making hierarchies and exploitative structures. Tax justice is a human rights issue and a centraein the struggle for social justice for all, everywhere.
* Disclaimer: The views expressed in this text are the personal views of the author.