Cooperation in international taxation

The EU, the OECD and the UN all deal with international income tax issues. There is also cooperation among the Nordic countries in international tax affairs.

As a member of the EU, Finland contributes to the preparatory work on, for example, directives, regulations, conclusions and recommendations, and is involved in the handling of cases in the Court of Justice of the European Union. In the OECD, Finland participates in the work of the Committee on Fiscal Affairs (CFA) and its subgroups. Matters covered include the updating of the OECD's model tax convention and its transfer pricing guidelines. The United Nations publishes its own model tax agreement and transfer pricing guidelines, and these also take into account the perspective of developing countries.

The Ministry of Finance also cooperates in international income tax affairs with other ministries, authorities and bodies in Finland, such as the Finnish Tax Administration and the courts. In addition, the Ministry of Finance requests comments from stakeholders at the consultation stage on Government proposals to Parliament and on other projects, and also itself provides comments on matters handled by other ministries, the administrative courts and the Finnish Tax Administration.

The Ministry's Tax Department runs a working group on international tax affairs. The purpose of the group is to provide opinions to the Ministry on tax treaties and other international tax matters. The group can also make proposals concerning the renewal of tax treaties. Besides the Ministry of Finance and the Finnish Tax Administration, the members of the group include interest groups, the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment and the Ministry for Foreign Affairs.

More information on international taxation:

Taxes in the European union (EU website)

Taxation in the OECD (OECD website)

Tax cooperation in the United Nations (UN website)