Santiago calls for more teeth in UN tax treaty

Former Malaysian MP Charles Santiago addressed concerns over inadequate provisions in a draft international tax treaty during United Nations negotiations. Santiago, representing an Asian peoples' movement on debt and globalization, stressed the need for stronger obligations to be placed on countries to ensure existing tax treaties align with the proposed UN tax convention.

He criticized the current language, which only requires countries to "take progressive and meaningful steps" towards alignment, arguing that this leaves Malaysia vulnerable to losing crucial tax revenues necessary for public infrastructure, healthcare, education, and climate adaptation.

Santiago argued that Article 21 of the draft treaty allows countries to stall implementation or preserve outdated tax arrangements indefinitely, potentially causing developing economies to suffer from perpetually lost tax revenues. He emphasized that the proposed treaty is designed to foster global tax cooperation, create a more inclusive system, and especially benefit low- and middle-income nations.

Santiago called for a mechanism to handle countries that refuse to negotiate or prolong the process, as well as a requirement for countries to align their domestic laws with the convention to ensure its obligations are reflected in laws governing multinational companies.