SC, IBFD CSAT, WATAF Special Issue, 17 October 2025

Future of the UN Tax Committee under the UN Framework Convention on International Tax Cooperation

By Aisha Aize Isa, Sabrine Marsit, Abiodun Adewale Adegboye, Nyatefe Wolali Dotsevi, Anne Wanyagathi Maina and Abdul Muheet Chowdhary

The global tax governance landscape has recently undergone major shifts and is now at a pivotal momentum where demands of inclusivity, transparency and an equitable tax system are increasingly growing amongst countries. Central to this pivotal momentum is the creation of the United Nations Framework Convention on International Tax Cooperation (UNFCITC), mandated by United Nations (UN) General Assembly Resolution 78/230 (December 2023). The UNFCITC’s objective is to establish an intergovernmental platform for governance and cooperation in international taxation. This report aims at exploring the possible role of the UN Committee of Experts on International Cooperation in Tax Matters (UNTC) within the merging architecture of the UNFCITC, drawing on past lessons of efforts to democratize international tax governance.

The report starts by tracing the history of international tax cooperation, back from 1923 with the League of Nations Economists’ Report, 1928 Model Treaties, 1943 Mexico proposed Draft, 1963 first Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Model Tax Convention, 1980 with the creation of the United Nations Model Tax Convention (UNMTC) to the UNFCITC creation in 2023. Each of these steps revealed recurrent patterns: marginalization of developing countries in the agenda setting processes, and the persistence of residence based taxation as the prevalent rule.

Based on the historical overview, the report provides an analysis of the UNTC institutional developments. Established in 1968, the UNTC has been incremental in the development of standard setting (UNMTC revisions and updates), technical guidance, and capacity building. However, its inherent structure, where members are acting on their individual capacity rather than on a governmental capacity has limited the legitimacy of its output compared to the OECD’s intergovernmental negotiated standards. Hence, the UNFCITC seeks to address the UNTC gaps and to realign its functions with a more inclusive member state led process. The UNFCITC emphasizes building on existing work, including the UNTC and OECD, to leverage complementary strengths.

This report envisages five prospective scenarios for the UNTC future:

1. Status quo with enhanced collaboration with the UNFCITC, where the UNTC continues under the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) body and its outputs are then submitted for intergovernmental approval under the UNFCITC;
2. Integration as an intergovernmental body – the UNTC would be integrated into the UNFCITC as a subsidiary organ;
3. Dissolution and replacement of the UNTC – in this hypothesis the UNFCITC takes over the UNTC mandates;
4. Elevation alongside the UNFCITC – in this hypothesis the UNTC would be upgraded to an intergovernmental body alongside the UNFCITC; and
5. Coordinated roles models, where the UNTC would be refocusing on capacity building and regional support while the rule-setting would be under the UNFCITC mandate.

The report concludes that clear mandates and coordination between the UNTC and the UNFCITC are essential to avoid duplication and conflicts. It highlights that developing countries must actively engage in framing the new prospective structures to ensure their interests are represented.

Download the report:

Future of the UN Tax Committee under the UN Framework Convention on International Tax Cooperation