Modernising the global tax system

As UN negotiations stepped up recently in New York, we hear some of the tussles between delegates trying to hold on to the 100 year old global tax system that's benefited them for so long versus delegates representing countries who have suffered the resulting tax injustices and can now out-vote them.

Plus: startling new estimates on the benefits to nations of UN tax reform ambitions: "For the Global South, after a single year the combined gains of all G77 countries would be enough to repay all outstanding IMF loans. For the Global North, countries who received Marshall Plan money after the Second World War would collectively receive the inflation-adjusted equivalent of the entire Marshall Plan every 2.6 years."

We also have news from Malta on the verdict from a jury in the trial of a businessman accused of complicity in the assassination of journalist and anti-corruption campaigner Daphne Caruana Galizia.

Featuring:

• delegates at the United Nations negotiations in New York
• Tove Ryding from Eurodad
• Alison Schultz, research fellow at the Tax Justice Network
• Matthew Caruana Galizia, journalist and anti-corruption campaigner at Daphne Foundation
• Corinne Vella, anti-corruption campaigner at Daphne Foundation, Daphne Caruana Galizia's sister

Produced and hosted by Naomi Fowler of the Tax Justice Network

Transcript of the show: https://podcasts.taxjustice.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/Transcript_SeptOct_2026.pdf

Further reading:

Statements from Daphne Foundation on the trial verdict in Malta https://www.daphne.foundation/en/2026/09/20/yorgen-fenech-pardon-admission-of-murder-guilt https://www.daphne.foundation/en/2026/09/02/fenech-trial-verdict

Times of Malta coverage of the Fenech trial https://timesofmalta.com/news/daphne%20caruana%20galizia

UN tax convention hub: Everything you need to know about current negotiations on the biggest shakeup in history to global tax rules https://taxjustice.net/topics/un-tax-convention/

UN Framework Convention – Roundup of the Fifth Session of Negotiations https://taxjustice.net/2026/09/11/un-framework-convention-roundup-of-the-fifth-session-of-negotiations/

A 500-billion-dollar decision for the world: the revenue impacts of global unitary taxation https://taxjustice.net/reports/a-500-billion-dollar-decision-for-the-world-the-revenue-impacts-of-global-unitary-taxation/