Memorandum of Understanding on the implementation of the Multilateral Tax Programme at the OECD-Budapest Multilateral Tax Centre

Hungary’s Minister of Finance, Dr Veres János, and the OECD, represented by Mr Jeffrey Owens, Director of the Centre for Tax Policy and Administration, signed today a Memorandum of Understanding on the implementation of the multilateral tax programme at the OECD-Budapest Multilateral Tax Centre.  The OECD-Budapest Multilateral Tax Centre has been established since 1992 to provide a forum for dialogue on international taxation issues between OECD countries and non-OECD economies in the region.  The Memorandum of Understanding thus formalises a long term partnership between Hungary and the OECD in the operation of the OECD-Budapest Multilateral Tax Centre. 

Globalisation has had and continues to assert a significant influence on the economies in the region and presents many serious challenges in tax policy and administration for these economies.  Countries need a co-ordinated strategy not only within but also across their international borders to deal with the taxation challenges created by globalisation. The formalisation of the OECD-Budapest Multilateral Tax Centre today reaffirms the importance of international co-operation in dealing with the taxation challenges that are increasingly global in nature. 

The multilateral tax programmes at the OECD-Budapest Multilateral Tax Centre provides a way for non-OECD countries in the region to participate in and provide feedback on OECD work in taxation.  Through active participation of both OECD member countries and non-OECD economies in the region, the tax centre has been effective in promoting dialogue and international co-operation on taxation issues, and continues to support the modernisation and reforms in tax policy and administration that are taking place in many countries in the region.

The formalisation of the multilateral tax programme based in Budapest reinforces Hungary’s commitment to the OECD’s work in taxation and provides opportunities for Hungary’s tax officials to dialogue with tax officials from other countries in the region and to benchmark Hungary’s progress in its tax modernisation and reform programmes.