Lisbon, Dec. 3, 2025 (Lusa) - MPs on the Portuguese Budget Committee on Wednesday approved a hearing with the secretary of state for tax affairs, so that the Government can explain to Parliament how negotiations on the new UN tax treaty are progressing.
The proposal to call Cláudia Reis Duarte, from the ministerial team of minister of finance Joaquim Miranda Sarmento, to the parliament came from the PS and was unanimously approved by the parties present at the time of the vote in the Budget, Finance and Public Administration Committee (COFAP), PSD, PS, Chega and PCP.
At issue is a hearing on the United Nations Framework Convention on International Cooperation in Tax Matters, in the negotiation of which the Portuguese State is involved, through Portugal's mission to the UN in Geneva and the Tax and Customs Authority's (AT) Centre for Tax Studies.
PS MP Miguel Costa Matos said that the negotiation of this instrument, put on the table by the UN to promote tax cooperation between states and increase countries' revenues worldwide, is an "absolutely innovative" step, following the OECD and G20's action plan to combat base erosion and profit shifting (BEPS) and the European Union's administrative cooperation initiatives.
The first round of negotiations on the convention took place between 4 and 15 August in New York, the second from 10 to 21 November in Nairobi, and the third is scheduled for 3 to 14 August 2026 in New York.
Miguel Costa Matos said it was in COFAP committee's interest to "monitor the progress of this work," which is being led by a UN intergovernmental negotiating committee.
The treaty "could be very important for Portugal to have fewer tax revenue losses and to reduce the tax burden on the Portuguese," said the PS MP.
The socialist parliamentarian pointed out that, initially, the PS bench had planned to request the presence of the minister of foreign affairs in parliament, but understood that Paulo Rangel's presence could be reserved for a later date.
At this point, he said, the PS believes it would be advantageous to hear from the secretary of state for Tax Affairs because, on the Portuguese side, the convention "is being negotiated jointly by the Tax and Customs Authority's Centre for Tax Studies and Portugal's mission to the UN in Geneva".
As Cláudia Reis Duarte is responsible for the tax authorities, she "in a way politically oversees these negotiations through the Tax and Customs Authority negotiator" and can explain to MPs how the discussions between the governments are progressing.
The aim of the new convention is to improve international tax cooperation and combat illicit financial flows, so that states, by strengthening their tax revenues, can increase their investments and thereby meet the Sustainable Development Goals.
In December 2022, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution (77/2441) on "promoting inclusive and effective international cooperation in tax matters at the United Nations," which served as the starting point for this initiative.
In August 2023, the secretary-general, António Guterres, published a report that proposed that the United Nations begin negotiating a legally binding framework convention on international cooperation in this area, which has now been completed.
The terms of reference of the treaty provide for the drafting of two initial protocols, one on the taxation of income from the provision of services in several countries in the context of the digitalisation of the economy, and a second on the prevention and resolution of tax disputes.
The intergovernmental negotiating committee's timetable envisages that the work will be completed in 2027, to be reviewed in the first quarter of the 82nd session of the United Nations General Assembly.
The agenda for the same Budget, Finance and Public Administration Committee (COFAP) meeting in the Portuguese parliament also included the discussion and vote on a request by Chega for parliament to hear from the management of the Madeira Development Society (SDM), the entity that manages the Madeira Free Zone (ZFM), but this item was not voted on.
The PSD submitted a request to postpone the vote, and the matter was scheduled for the next COFAP meeting on 10 December, as confirmed to Lusa by the committee chairman, Chega MP Rui Afonso.
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