Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Ireland is a strong supporter of international tax reform. In recent years the OECD has played the leading role in developing new, globally accepted international tax standards. To ensure all countries participate on an equal footing, the BEPS inclusive framework was established to lead global tax reform efforts. The framework has over 110 members from all over the world, including developing and developed countries. We expect the number to grow and it is a true global tax body. We are an active participant in its work.

As a result of the inclusive framework, the establishment of a new or replacement international tax body under the auspices of the United Nations is not necessary. While I note that there have been calls from civil society for a UN tax body, I believe such a body would take a significant amount of time to begin operations and lose the benefit of the huge experience and expertise of the OECD secretariat which facilitates the inclusive framework. It is unclear what benefit would be added by the replacement of the inclusive framework which has been remarkably successful with an entirely new body with identical aims and membership.

Separately, the platform for collaboration on tax has been established as a joint effort between the United Nations, the OECD, the IMF and the World Bank to provide an opportunity to build on progress made to date and further enhance co-operation between countries on tax matters. The platform has a particular focus on developing countries and taxation.

The United Nations does play a role in tax, both in these international bodies and developing its version of OECD standards which may be more suitable for developing countries in some circumstances. One example is the UN model tax convention. When negotiating with developing countries on tax treaties, Ireland is always willing to include elements from the UN model that are requested by a treaty partner country.

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