The Financing for Development Office of the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (FfDO/UNDESA) in cooperation with the Economic Commission for Africa (UN-ECA), organized a 4-day UN Workshop on Practical Issues in Protecting the Tax Base of Developing Countries with the participation of representatives of developing countries in Africa.

The Workshop aimed to launch the revised edition of the United Nations Handbook on Selected Issues in Protecting the Tax Base of Developing Countries (the Handbook) and the newly developed United Nations Practical Portfolios on Protecting the Tax Base of Developing Countries (Practical Portfolios), providing a thorough overview of their contents to participants, in order to strengthen their capacity to protect the tax base of their countries. 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 further development of the Practical Portfolios, providing a more in-depth analysis of selected topics.

The Workshop focused in particular on the Practical Portfolio on Protecting the Tax Base of Developing Countries against Base-eroding Payments of Rent and Royalties, and it also provided an overview of General Anti-Avoidance Rules (GAARs) in practice, which was also an occasion to gather participants’ perspectives and views, to be included in the upcoming Practical Portfolio on GAARs. In addition, the Workshop dealt with the link between international taxation and the attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), with a focus on special topics such as the taxation of natural resources and of the extractive industry, and environmental taxation.

The Workshop was facilitated by internationally renowned experts. Participants actively participated 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.

This event aimed to build upon and complement the UN Workshop on Double Tax Treaties and Base-Eroding Payments for Developing Countries (Nairobi, Kenya, 21-24 March 2017), aimed to raise awareness on, discuss and analyse the latest development in the area of Base Erosion and Profit Shifting, and to receive feedback from participants for the revision and expansion of the Handbook and the development of the Practical Portfolios, in order to better reflect the point of view of developing countries on relevant issues.