July Newsletter

Dear Colleagues and Allies,

Welcome to GATJ’s July newsletter. We are enthusiastic to share June highlights, member updates, and upcoming events.

GATJ-TAFJA Multi-Stakeholder Forum and Asia Strategy Workshop Press Conference.

June Highlights

200+ Civil Society Organisations and Trade Unions Submit Comments on the UN Tax Convention Zero Draft Terms of Reference

The zero draft terms of reference (ToR) for the UN Tax Convention was released early June. As the facilitator of the Civil Society Finance for Development (CS FfD) Mechanism’s Tax Justice Workstream, GATJ, alongside Eurodad, worked with civil society partners to prepare comments on the draft ToR.

The joint submission is signed by 228 civil society organisations and trade unions from across the world.

Participants from the GATJ-TAFJA conference.

UN Tax Convention Now! Rewrite the Global Tax Rules to Work for People and the Planet

GATJ-TAFJA Multi-Stakeholder Forum and Asia Strategy Workshop

From the 20th - 22nd June, GATJ and TAFJA convened grassroots peoples’ movements, academics, public sector officials, and fellow Global South allies to strategise around the ongoing UN Tax Convention negotiations. Participants discussed the urgent need for global tax rules to reduce inequalities and address issues of gender justice, illicit financial flows, profit shifting, and tax evasion and abuse.

Read the communiqué here.

Panelists from the GATJ-TJNA side event.

The Parallel Processes that Distract Africa from the UN Path

Side event at the Pan-African Network Conference on Illicit Financial Flows and Taxation

GATJ and TJNA co-hosted a side event on the need for global tax rules to be negotiated at the UN to deliver a more transparent, participatory, and accountable intergovernmental decision-making process. GATJ Executive Director Dereje Alemayehu shared the need to be wary of OECD and G20 processes which fail to address the needs of African countries and the broader Global South.

Find highlights of the event and the recording here.

GATJ’s Members

AFRICA

Tax Justice Network Africa (TJNA) and allied African civil society delivered a statement in solidarity with Kenyan citizens’ demands for economic reforms in the #RejectTheFinanceBill2024 movement.

ASIA

Tax and Fiscal Justice Asia (TAFJA) & GATJ shared a press release from the the Multi-Stakeholder Forum and Asia Strategy Workshop.

LATIN AMERICA
Red de Justicia Fiscal de América Latina y El Caribe (RJFALC) & GATJ will convene tax justice advocates to mobilise around the UN Tax Convention negotiations. Find more details in the section below or register here.

NORTH AMERICA

Canadians for Tax Fairness (C4TF) published a report on soaring corporate profits and lagging corporate investment, dispelling the myth that corporate profit growth inherently translates to economic growth. C4TF celebrated the Digital Services Tax receiving royal assent, establishing a tax on big tech.

Financial Accountability & Corporate Transparency (FACT) Policy & Communications Officer Thomas Georges presented at the Addis Tax Initiative (ATI) General Assembly on the role of public country-by-country reporting (CbCR) to raise revenues in developing countries.

During a workshop on “Greed and Corruption: A Disease Accelerating the Global Environmental Catastrophe” at the International Anti-Corruption Conference (IACC), FACT Executive Director Ian Gary discussed the nexus between transnational corruption, environmental crimes, and U.S. financial secrecy.

EUROPE

Tax Justice Europe (TJ-E) & Eurodad worked with GATJ to analyze the zero draft ToR for the UN Tax Convention. Find their initial reaction here.

July Events

18th - 19th July

📍Buenos Aires, Argentina

RJFALC and GATJ are co-hosting a conference: “Un Nuevo Arquitecto Para Rediseñar Las Reglas Fiscales Globales [A New Architecture to Redesign the Global Tax Rules].” Civil society, tax justice advocates, public officials, and other stakeholders will discuss the role of Latin America and the Caribbean in the UN Tax Convention. The event is organised in collaboration with Fundación SES and Latindadd.

29th July - 16th August

📍UN Headquarters, New York, U.S.

States and observers will meet at the UN in New York to continue negotiating the ToR for the UN Tax Convention. The ToR is to be finalized by September, making this a crucial moment in the struggle for global tax justice.

GATJ and civil society allies will advocate for a ToR that supports progressive taxation to eliminate inequalities between and within countries, reflects the needs of the Global South, and provides a tax base to deliver on human rights, environmental action, public services, and gender equality.

For questions on how to get involved contact us at [email protected]. For updates on the negotiations follow GATJ on social media, linked below.

Let’s Connect:

About GATJ
We are a South-led global coalition in the tax justice movement. Together we work for a world where progressive and redistributive tax policies counteract inequalities within and between countries, and generate the public funding needed to ensure essential services and human rights.

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