UN Tax Framework Convention: the fifth session sets up the substantive fights

Between 3 and 13 August 2026, the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee held its fifth session in New York on the UN Framework Convention on International Tax Cooperation. It was the round where the shape of the actual instruments started to become concrete: a Convention text, a Protocol on the taxation of cross-border services, and a Protocol on the prevention and resolution of tax disputes. The Sixth Session takes place in Nairobi from 30 November to 10 December 2026.

ICC filed its formal responses in the last week of August: on Workstream III (dispute prevention and resolution) on 24 August, on Protocol One (cross-border services) on 26 August, and on the Framework Convention itself on 28 August, before the UN public consultation window closed.

Where the substantive fights sit

Two files stand out. The first is Article 21 of the Framework Convention, which governs the relationship between the new Convention and existing international tax agreements. In the draft discusses at the Fifth Session, paragraph 2 preserves rigthts and obligations under pre-existing agreements, subject to paragraph 3, which requires States Parties to take progressive and meaningful steps to align existing international tax agreements with the Convention, including renegotiation where necessary.

The second is Protocol One on cross-border services. Three drafts are currently on the table. The Indian text reintroduces the concept of Permanent Establishment and proposes a hierarchy of nexus approaches. The UN Secretariat and co-lead text proposes a two-stage architecture combining a general principle for source taxation with an optional gross-basis withholding and a specific provision for automated and digital services. A third African Group text is at an earlier stage. Whichever formulation prevails will materially reshape how digital and services revenues are attributed for tax purposes.

What ICC members can do before 11 September

ICC is accredited to participate in the negotiations. ICC National Committees that wish to participate under their own organisational accreditation may apply separately; once granted, that accreditation remains valid throughout the INC process, while authorised representatives must register for each session. The application window for the Sixth Session in Nairobi closes on Friday 11 September at 23:59 New York time. Applications go through the UN Indico portal, event 1021522, and templates are available from the ICC Netherlands secretariat.

Members with tax leadership interested in following the file, or in nominating a delegate for the Nairobi round, are invited to signal interest by 8 September. The Global Tax Commission's next meeting takes place on 7 October and offers a natural forum for members to feed Dutch business perspectives into ICC's coordination.