The G20’s Crucial Role in an Uncertain Landscape of International Tax Cooperation
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After almost two decades of unprecedented progress in multilateral cooperation, 2025 sees global tax governance teetering on the brink of fragmentation. Both of the OECD’s ‘two pillars’ have broken new ground, but there are doubts that Pillar One, which would have provided a multilateral solution to the taxation of the digital economy, will come into effect. Meanwhile, negotiations at the UN for a new Framework Convention on International Tax Cooperation have highlighted sharp – possibly insurmountable – disagreements between global North and South. Fiscal pressures in all parts of the world are prompting renewed interest attention to wealth taxes and global solidarity levies, but for these to benefit the global South, they too would require multilateral cooperation.
This policy brief draws on research from the International Centre for Tax and Development (UK) and the National Institute for Public Finance and Policy (India) on the politics of global tax cooperation and the needs and experiences of lower-income countries. Since the T20 Brazil communiqué outlined a vision for the future of global tax cooperation, its outlook has deteriorated.
Now more than ever, the G20 must build on its legacy as a driver of progress in global tax governance, and demonstrate leadership in two priority areas:
Supporting constructive outcomes from current negotiations at the UN; and
Championing new areas of cooperation including taxing the wealthy and climate-related taxation.
Martin Hearson is a Research Fellow at IDS, Research Director of the ICTD and the International Tax programme lead. His research focuses on the politics of international business taxation, and in particular the relationship between developed and developing countries. Before joining ICTD, Martin was a fellow in international political economy at the London School of Economics and Political Science, teaching courses on political economy and global financial governance.
Frederik Heitmüller is an Associate Postdoctoral Fellow with ICTD’s International Tax Team. His research focuses on policies against corporate tax avoidance, the influence of international norms in the Global South and global tax governance. He is also an independent consultant on tax policy.
Prior to joining ICTD, he obtained a PhD from Leiden University, Netherlands, where he investigated the political economy of the BEPS Project in the Global South as member of the GLOBTAXGOV project, and taught courses on international and comparative taxation. He has a master’s degree in political science from Sciences Po Bordeaux and University of Stuttgart.
Florian Dierich is a consultant currently working as an Associate Research Officer with the International Tax Team at ICTD. His work focuses on international tax cooperation. Previously, Florian has worked on international tax frameworks, including the OECD’s Two-Pillar Solution, the Global Solidarity Levies Task Force and EU tax policies. He holds a Research Master’s in Political Science from Sciences Po Paris.
Citation: Tandon, S.; Hearson, M.; Heitmuller, F. et al (2025) 'The G20’s Crucial Role in an Uncertain Landscape of International Tax Cooperation', T20 South Africa 2025 Policy Briefing
