The Washington, DC-based Center for Freedom and Prosperity has announced plans for a June 2nd "Tax Competition Conference" to be sponsored jointly by CF&P, the Heritage Foundation (also of Washington) and the Friedrich Naumann Foundation of Germany. The event is being held in Berlin, and was scheduled to precede an OECD Global Forum on international tax policy.
The Conference is designed to educate European audiences about tax competition issues and, as such, will discuss the virtues of tax competition and explore the adverse consequences of tax harmonisation. According to the organisers, it is intended to give non-OECD policy makers "useful" information as they prepare to meet with the OECD. It is anticipated that international tax experts from the United States and Europe will discuss how best to preserve tax competition, financial privacy, and fiscal sovereignty.
A release from the CF&P says the OECD has convened the Global Forum "to convince targeted non-OECD jurisdictions that there is a "level playing field" between them and its member countries."{i}
The Global Forum is part of the OECD's overall "Worldwide Tax Programme" the objectives of which it describes as "developing and implementing best practices in tax policy and administration in partnership with non-member countries." The Global Forum on Taxation, specifically, builds on the expertise of the Committee on Fiscal Affairs in International Tax Issues, and the interaction of non-OECD economies and Member countries whose specific experiences and mutual interests inform, develop and refine the dialogue.
The OECD says its Forum serves the purpose of bringing together representatives of member and non member governments that are committed to the principles of transparency and effective exchange of information for tax purposes.
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