The creation of a new United Nations tax body to clamp down on tax dodging, which experts say could cost developing countries more than $200 billion a year in missed revenues, will be a key priority of the Group of 77 and China under Ecuadorian leadership, according to the country’s foreign minister.
Global tax regulation is currently decided by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, which is made up of 35 developed countries, leading many to question its legitimacy to decide on tax matters affecting all nations.
Speaking the day before Ecuador officially took over from Thailand as chair of the G77, Foreign Affairs Minister Guillaume Long said tackling tax havens would be a priority under Ecuador’s leadership and that it would seek to introduce a U.N. tax body with a state-level mandate to pursue “tax justice.”
About the author
Sophie Edwards
Sophie Edwards is a Devex Contributing Reporter covering global education, water and sanitation, and innovative financing, along with other topics. She has previously worked for NGOs, and the World Bank, and spent a number of years as a journalist for a regional newspaper in the U.K. She has a master's degree from the Institute of Development Studies and a bachelor's from Cambridge University.
