To promote international cooperation in the field of taxation, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution establishing a UN tax convention. 125 member states voted for the resolution, 48 voted against and 9 abstained.
The resolution calls for the establishment of an intergovernmental committee to develop protocols and measures to combat illicit tax-related financial flows. The Committee should consist of no more than 20 members, elected on the basis of balanced geographical representation to ensure equal representation of the five UN regional groups.
This was preceded by a proposal from a group of African countries to create an alternative model of international cooperation in the tax field. Because, in their opinion, the OECD models have undermined the global tax system and allowed large companies to evade paying taxes at the expense of their own citizens.
The US, UK and EU countries were against the resolution and proposed changes that would have reduced the proposal to a simple declaration, but all of them were rejected.