The Financing for Development Office (FfDO) of UN-DESA organized, in cooperation with the African Tax Administration Forum (ATAF), a 4-day UN Workshop on Double Tax Treaties and Base-Eroding Payments for Developing Countries with the participation of representatives of developing countries in Africa.

The Workshop aimed to strengthen the technical capacity of participants to deal with tax treaties and address relevant BEPS-related issues, drawing on the practical guidelines contained in the United Nations Handbook on Selected Issues in Protecting the Tax Base of Developing Countries (the Handbook). This Workshop also aimed to raise awareness on, discuss and analyse the latest development in the area of BEPS, as well as to receive feedback and inputs from participants for the revision and expansion of the Handbook and the further development of supplementary materials (the Practical Portfolios), providing a more in-depth analysis of selected topics.

The Workshop was attended by representatives from national tax authorities in Africa, and discussions covered the taxation of cross-border services and the treatment of base-eroding payments of interest, two issues that developing countries reported to be of particular relevance to them in protecting their tax base. To this end, draft Practical Portfolios addressing the aforesaid issues were circulated among participants in advance of the meeting for their perusal and formed the basis of the discussions.

The Workshop was be facilitated by internationally renowned experts. Participants were expected to actively participate in the meeting, including by engaging in the discussion of practical case studies and sharing information about their respective country’s domestic tax laws and tax treaties. In view of that, participants were also asked to fill in ad hoc questionnaires in advance of the meeting, in order to provide some basic relevant information.