G20 Tax Symposium 2022

The Ministry of Finance welcomed the G20 Ministerial Symposium on Taxation in Nusa Dua, Bali. This was intended to bring together policymakers at ministerial level to discuss international tax challenges and the role of the G20 in supporting taxation and progress in developing countries.

The meeting was attended by ministers and delegates from member countries of the G20 Inclusion Framework, as well as international organizations. The tax symposium is expected to foster greater inclusion in the international tax system and broaden consensus to help developing countries maximize domestic resource mobilization.

On this occasion, the Indonesian finance minister emphasized the importance of the participation of developing countries in the design of international fiscal rules and in the application of Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) actions. effectively so that they can derive real benefits from the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) initiative.

The COVID-19 pandemic has reduced the fiscal space of developing countries and increased the urgency for international standards that can generate sustainable tax revenues to finance development.

The finance minister encouraged a greater role for the G20 to support developing countries in applying international tax rules and to mobilize domestic resources. He in turn called for greater collaboration and cooperation between G20 and OECD member countries to achieve an inclusive and sustainable recovery.

the Indonesian finance minister stressed the importance of the participation of developing countries in the design of international tax rules and in the implementation of BEPS

The first session of the symposium discussed “The role of the G20 in supporting developing countries in the G20/OECD BEPS Inclusive Framework and the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes”.

The OECD Secretary-General moderated the round table of finance ministers from India, Italy and the UK, focusing on the role of the G20 in supporting developing countries to benefit from the fiscal transparency agenda.

Several priorities were identified to support the implementation of international tax rules, including measures for BEPS, exchange of information (EOI) and the two-pillar international tax package in developing countries.

The second session brought together the finance ministers of Japan, South Africa, Singapore and Jamaica, moderated by the president of the Asian Development Bank. Future fiscal policy challenges were on the agenda, especially with regard to fiscal incentives and domestic resource mobilization.

One of the main issues put on the table was the role of the tax system in financing development, which is an absolute priority for developing countries. Improving tax administration to promote security by tackling tax evasion was also discussed.

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The director of the Fiscal Policy Agency, Febrio Kacaribu, who delivered a closing speech at the close of the seminar, explained several lessons that could be drawn from the two sessions:

On the one hand, the identification of priority areas to support developing countries in the application of international tax rules, including BEPS measures, information exchange and the two-pillar international tax package, as well as improvements in the tax administration that also affect the effectiveness of the application of international tax rules.

As far as the implementation of the second pillar is concerned, issues related to fiscal incentives and domestic resource mobilization need to be addressed so that all countries can benefit equitably.

Discussions at this symposium have provided input for future initiatives on international tax rules that are more inclusive, so that developing countries can also reap optimal benefits from global cooperation.