Check against delivery.
Good morning everyone, Thank you for the invitation to join you once more to share the OECD’s perspective on the continuing need - and the path forward - for international tax co-operation.
Since the OECD was founded in 1961, our organisation has supported countries in working together on tax policy for mutual benefit.
Our efforts reflect a core economic reality: domestic tax policies do not exist in a vacuum.
The effectiveness of domestic policy choices, and in some cases the ability of a government to collect tax revenues and enforce tax laws, can be heavily influenced by the laws, policies and practices of other jurisdictions.
The digitalisation and globalisation of our economies only amplified this dynamic.
Further, we have entered a period of elevated pressures on public finances.
Spending needs related to population ageing, defence, infrastructure, climate and digitalisation are growing.
So getting the policy settings right on the revenue side of budgets is in many ways more important than ever.
Of course we continue to recommend that governments ensure their spending is well-targeted, subject to regular reviews and optimises opportunities for efficiencies.
But this alone is not sufficient.
Growing fiscal pressures mean that governments are looking to more effective tax policies to raise the revenues they need to be able finance the essential services their populations rely on and to be able to make the necessary investments in long-term growth and prosperity.
In this context, with competition for tax revenue at an all-time high, international tax co-operation is as critical as ever – to mitigate the risk of double taxation, prevent barriers to cross-border investment and foster growth.
And international tax co-operation is as critical as ever to prevent and address tax avoidance, safeguard domestic tax policy choices and protect countries’ tax bases.
Well co-ordinated international rules and standards that are evidence based and agreed by consensus, reduce administrative burdens and provide businesses with the certainty and stability they need to innovate, invest and prosper.
At the OECD we have a long and proud history of facilitating and driving international tax co-operation.
Including through:
- Information exchange agreements supporting more effective tax law enforcement,
- Global standards that prevent tax avoidance and evasion,
- And common approaches, such as the recently agreed global minimum tax, which raises the floor on taxation, interrupts the race to the bottom on taxation, reduces uneconomic distortions of investment decisions based solely on achieving low tax outcomes and ultimately levels the playing field for participating jurisdictions.
Towards this, the OECD provides an inclusive platform for co-operation among a wide range of participating jurisdictions - including 148 members of the Inclusive Framework on Base Erosion and Profit Shifting and 172 members of the Global Forum on Tax Transparency.
We remain committed to facilitating engagement amongst jurisdictions to find evidence-based tax policy solutions to tackle the most pressing economic challenges of our time while preserving national interests and fiscal sovereignty.
Our work on tax began with the twin goals of 1) eliminating tax barriers to cross-border trade and investment to promote growth, and 2) protecting tax bases.
The 1963 Model Tax Convention and the 1995 OECD Transfer Pricing Guidelines are core international standards that help countries eliminate double taxation and prevent tax evasion.
Since then, our work has expanded to cover tax administration, tax policy and statistics, tax and crime, tax transparency, and environmental taxation, just to name a few.
Our Base Erosion and Profit Shifting Initiative served to preserve these legacy achievements by modernising and adapting existing international tax rules and standards to address modern business models and operating structures.
Building on the success of the BEPS initiative and reinforcing its objectives, the Inclusive Framework adopted the Global Minimum Tax in 2021 to reduce incentives for uneconomic profit shifting and tax-motivated investment distortions.
The Global Minimum Tax also serves to reduce pressures on countries to offer tax incentives that end up costing revenue without creating real, substance-based investment.
With a critical mass of jurisdictions, 65 jurisdictions so far, choosing to adopt this common approach – including all EU Member States – it was essential to do everything we could to secure this massive achievement for the long term.
This meant addressing concerns that were raised about the application of the global minimum tax, including those raised by the United States regarding the interaction with its own global minimum tax arrangements.
To that end, earlier this year (5 January), the 148 Members of the Inclusive Framework agreed, by consensus, on a comprehensive side-by-side package, that preserves the gains and policy objectives of the global minimum tax in Pillar 2 while promoting stability and reducing compliance burdens for businesses.
This package includes a series of material simplification measures, clarifications on the expiry of transitional provisions, and greater alignment of substance-based tax incentives.
It also introduces a side-by-side system that is based on strict eligibility criteria to ensure robust minimum taxation.
Importantly, the agreement does not result in exempting any group of multinationals from minimum taxation.
The side-by-side arrangement ensures the primacy of domestic taxation by guaranteeing that qualified domestic minimum top-up taxes remain applicable to all multinational enterprises operating in an implementing jurisdiction, regardless of where the enterprise is headquartered.
There is no exception for any jurisdiction from the application of the Global Minimum Tax through the application of qualified domestic minimum top taxes.
The side-by-side system also does not exempt Multinational Enterprises from a minimum level of taxation in the absence of domestic top taxes.
Instead, the system recognises that pre-existing systems, in particular the pre-existing US regime, which indeed served as the impetus for the OECD global minimum tax, already imposes robust minimum taxation that is complementary to the policy goals of the Global Minimum Tax and therefore can operate alongside the regime.
Importantly, the spirit of the side-by-side agreement and the commitment to global minimum taxation is reinforced by a consensus-based commitment to address any base erosion and profit shifting or level playing field risks that may emerge.
Towards this, a stock take regarding the operation of the rules will be concluded in 2029.
The side-by-side arrangement is a major step forward, helping to fulfil the original aims of the global minimum tax, simplify compliance for businesses, and allow robust domestic approaches with the same objectives to co-exist under common safeguards agreed by the Inclusive Framework – and on the foundation of a consensus involving everyone in the Inclusive Framework.
Facilitating the continued implementation of the global minimum tax is a core priority for us at the OECD and for the Members of the Inclusive Framework.
Towards this end, we are working with the European Union and other members to support co-ordinated and consistent implementation amongst the countries that have adopted the Pillar 2 global minimum tax rules, including through stakeholder engagement such as the Amsterdam Dialogue.
With the valued support of our friends and colleagues in the European Commission, we will provide assistance to 14 EU member states as they implement the global minimum tax.
We will support implementation further through tailored capacity building, best-practice and implementation guidance, and practical tools that facilitate upfront compliance and risk assessment.
Beyond the global minimum tax, we are working with the Inclusive Framework to resume a constructive dialogue on the taxation of the digital economy.
The Steering Group of the Inclusive Framework has expressed a common desire to return to the conversation on the taxation of the digital economy and the importance of addressing the issues and challenges in a multilateral setting, to avoid fragmentation and harmful unilateral approaches.
Over the coming months, the OECD will support the Inclusive Framework as they review the work done to date, seek feedback on lessons learned, and explore how country priorities and ambitions have evolved, to chart the course for future discussions.
And we will go further in responding to other emerging tax challenges that governments are facing.
First, addressing the tax implications of an increasingly mobile and remote work force.
For EU countries, these challenges are especially significant given deeper economic integration and higher levels of cross-border labour mobility.
Since the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of European employees working remotely has increased by over 80%; and 59% of EU start ups operate with remote, decentralized teams.
To help address the tax challenges arising from this shift, the Inclusive Framework is exploring options to modernise tax rules for evolving work patterns, ensuring tax systems attract global talent while also addressing potential risks.
Second, exploring how tax policy interacts with inequality and economic growth.
This work will follow a phased evidence and data driven approach, first scoping the issues, including understanding the impact and interactions of various domestic tax policies in promoting growth and mitigating or exacerbating inequality.
This will inform discussions in the Inclusive Framework on the way forward on priority issues identified through country consultations, including sharing experiences that inform domestic policy choices, for example the effective taxation of capital and supporting business dynamism.
Beyond these efforts, effective international tax co-operation would not be possible without the right tools to enhance tax transparency and exchange of information.
Our work helps enhance transparency in increasingly key financial areas such as crypto-assets, where global market capitalisation has grown sharply from around USD 740 billion in 2020 to about USD 2.5 trillion today.
Through the Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework, the Global Forum on Tax Transparency is helping to close transparency gaps and combat tax evasion by requiring the reporting of crypto-asset transactions to tax authorities.
Over 70 countries have already committed to implementing this in 2027 or 2028, and the adoption and recent entry into force of the eighth Directive on Administrative Co-operation places the EU at the forefront of these efforts.
In late 2025, we also released a framework for the voluntary exchange of real estate information which extends tax transparency further by facilitating the automatic and regular exchange of readily available information on real estate.
Twenty-six jurisdictions have already indicated their intention to commit to this new framework.
We are working with partner organisations and countries around the world to provide the support needed to participate in and benefit from the tax standards and tools that we help develop.
The EU and its Member States have been strong supporters of the OECD’s global capacity-building efforts, fostering greater tax transparency and supporting green taxation.
These efforts have yielded excellent results.
For instance, the Tax Inspectors Without Borders initiative, our joint technical assistance programme with the United Nations Development Programme, has generated more than USD 2.4 billion in tax revenues and USD 6.39 billion in tax assessments in developing countries since its launch in 2015.
We are now implementing the next phase of this initiative that will support developing countries in better navigating emerging challenges from the digitalisation of economies, increasingly complex cross-border arrangements and evolving forms of illicit financial flows.
It will also respond to demands from developing countries for specialised assistance that places more emphasis on peer-to-peer support.
This complements our broader programme of technical support in partnership with other international and regional organisations, as well as the OECD’s tax crime academies in Italy, Kenya, Argentina and Japan.
In closing,
It is no secret that this is a challenging and complex global policy environment.
The OECD is well positioned and remains committed to continuing to support constructive, mutually beneficial co-operation in this environment.
What we are achieving on tax, together with our partners including the European Union, gives us good reason to be optimistic.
The recent side-by-side agreement achieved by consensus by the now 148-member Inclusive Framework, is a testament to the continuing commitment to multilateral co-operation in tax to secure certainty and stability and enable a strong foundation for fiscal sustainability and growth.
There is much more for us to do – and we continue to make progress every day. You can count on the OECD to continue supporting better tax policy for a brighter future.
Thank you.
Working with over 100 countries, the OECD is a global policy forum that promotes policies to preserve individual liberty and improve the economic and social well-being of people around the world.