***Enhancing the Effectiveness of External Support in Building Tax Capacity in Developing Countries***
The third G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors Meeting was held in Chengdu, southwest China’s Sichuan Province, on July 23-24. This was the last minister-level meeting before the G20 Summit, which will be held in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province in early September.
G20 Finance Ministers, in their communique of February 2016, had called upon the IMF, OECD, UN and World Bank Group to *”recommend mechanisms to help ensure effective implementation of technical assistance programmes, and recommend how countries can contribute funding for tax projects and direct technical assistance, and report back with recommendations”* at this July meeting. The four organisations, working jointly as the members of the new [Platform for Collaboration on Tax](http://www.oecd.org/tax/the-platform-for-collaboration-on-tax-releases-discussion-draft-on-effective-capacity-building-on-tax-matters-in-developing-countries.htm) – drawing on their individual experiences in delivering technical advice and their interactions with other providers of technical assistance, development partners, and especially country governments – developed a series of recommendations and enabling actions in response to this request. The recommendations in this report further benefitted from a public request for feedback on draft recommendations which attracted responses from governments, businesses, civil society and individuals.
The report presented over the weekend was prepared in the framework of the Platform for Collaboration on Tax under the responsibility of the Secretariats and Staff of the four mandated organizations. The report reflects a broad consensus among these staff, but should not be regarded as the officially endorsed views of those organizations or of their member countries.
[Report from Platform](http://www.oecd.org/tax/enhancing-the-effectiveness-of-external-support-in-building-tax-capacity-in-developing-countries.pdf?utm_source=Adestra&utm_medium=email&utm_content=Home%20%C2%BB%20OECD.org%20%C2%BB%20Topics%20%C2%BB%20Tax%3A%20Enhancing%20the%20Effectiveness%20of%20External%20Support%20in%20Building%20Tax%20Capa&utm_campaign=Tax%20News%20Alert%2025-07-2016&utm_term=demo)
[Full Press Release](http://www.oecd.org/tax/report-by-the-platform-for-collaboration-on-tax-to-the-g20-enhancing-the-effectiveness-of-external-support-in-building-tax-capacity-in-developing-countries.htm?utm_source=Adestra&utm_medium=email&utm_content=%C2%BB%20Read%20the%20full%20press%20release&utm_campaign=Tax%20News%20Alert%2025-07-2016&utm_term=demo)
**OECD Secretary-General Report to G20 Finance Ministers**
The OECD’s Secretary General also submitted a report to the G20 Finance Ministers on:
* the OECD/G20 BEPS Project;
* Tax transparency,
* Tax policy tools to support sustainable and inclusive growth; and
* Tax and development.
The Report includes an updated Progress Report to the G20 by the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information.
[Report](http://www.oecd.org/tax/oecd-secretary-general-tax-report-g20-finance-ministers-july-2016.pdf?utm_source=Adestra&utm_medium=email&utm_content=%C2%BB%20Read%20the%20full%20report&utm_campaign=Tax%20News%20Alert%2025-07-2016&utm_term=demo)
**G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors Meeting Communiqué**
The G-20 economies said that the global economy continues to recover but growth “remains weaker than desirable”, as financial market volatility remains high and geopolitical conflicts, terrorism and refugee flows continue to complicate the economic environment.
There was a consensus around the table that more needs to be done to share the benefits of growth and economic openness broadly within and among countries.
The G-20 economies also endorsed new criteria to identify governments that are failing to cooperate with global efforts to seek transparency on taxation.
Communiqué – see pdf below.