The UN Course on Double Tax Treaties (the UN Course) is the most basic training tool, developed by the Financing for Development Office (FfDO) in the area of tax treaties, which is intended for officials in national tax authorities and ministries of finance in developing countries with very limited or no knowledge of tax treaties.

The UN Course introduces the fundamentals of double tax treaties, which play a critical role in promoting international investment and provide the participants with a good understanding of the United Nations Model Double Taxation Convention between Developed and Developing Countries (the United Nations Model Convention), which is one of the two international double tax treaty models most widely used by countries as a basis for negotiations of their bilateral tax treaties. The course covers the recent updates of the United Nations Model Convention, as well as the similarities with and differences from the OECD Model Tax Convention on Income and on Capital, which is the other most widely used model. In addition to analyzing the treaty rules for the allocation of taxing rights between countries over cross-border income, the UN Course deals with treaty provisions for the elimination of international double taxation and administrative provisions aimed at ensuring effective application of tax treaties. The course includes practical examples and case studies to enable participants to gain confidence in applying the knowledge and skills acquired during the course.

The UN Course was developed as a result of a unique collaborative engagement between a diversified group of authors and contributors comprising world-renowned experts in the field of international taxation, numerous members of the United Nations Committee of Experts on International Cooperation in Tax Matters and FfDO.

The UN Course is delivered in regional setting over the period of 5 days. In addition to instruction provided by world-renowned experts and FfDO staff, regional experts are invited to provide practical insights and relevant examples from their country practices throughout the course. The UN Course combines theoretical aspects with large amount of practical material in the form of examples and cases studies, which are discussed in small groups. The interactive nature of this course and inclusion of regional aspects facilitates South-South sharing among participants.

The UN Couse is complemented by the UN Primer on Double Tax Treaties, which provides a brief introduction to the basic aspects of tax treaties to tax officials with no prior experience in this area and serves as a pre-requisite for participants in the UN Course.