Rethinking International Tax Cooperation

In this episode of Multilateralism UNpacked, UNU-CPR Senior Fellow and Professor of Fiscal Law at the University of Nairobi, Attiya Waris, discusses the ongoing negotiations on a United Nations framework convention on international tax cooperation. Recorded in August during the negotiations, the conversation explores what a new international tax framework could mean for inequality, fiscal space and development finance.

Drawing on her role as United Nations Independent Expert on foreign debt, international financial obligations and human rights, Professor Waris discusses taxing rights, transfer pricing and access to tax information, as well as the links between taxation, sovereign debt and development finance.

Professor Waris also discusses how conventional measures of countries’ economic strength can overlook assets such as renewable energy potential and productive populations, and why these should be considered alongside GDP when assessing fiscal space.

Further reading:

1. Hidden Debts, Missing Assets: What the Spring Meetings Forgot
2. Action for a Healthier Global Tax System
3. A Human Rights Approach as the Basis for a Global Fiscal Architecture
4. www.attiyawaris.org