Serenity Now! The (Not So) Inclusive Framework and the Multilateral Instrument

Abstract

The Article demonstrates, based on publicly available data and using a variety of indicators that the most salient initiatives to promote inclusivity within the international tax regime (Country-by-Country Reporting, the Multilateral Instrument, and the Inclusive Framework) have at best done little to increase the meaningful participation of non-OECD countries in the regime, and at worst been disingenuous. The opacity of the examined initiatives and the difficulty of measuring inclusivity dictated this indirect methodology, yet the picture it portrays is unambiguous. The article finally explain why the OECD invited non-Member States to join these initiatives, and why the latter have nominally joined, using Hirschman’s exit and voice framework. Based on this analysis, It concludes that the problems that led to the initiation of inclusive fora within the international tax regime will not “go away” with such nominal inclusivity, and that only meaningful inclusivity has the chance to stabilize the international tax regime.