Slovakia to Preside over OECD Council Meeting for First Time
Last update: 23.05.2019 10:08
Slovakia is currently presiding over the ministerial meeting of the OECD Council in Paris. In reaction to global developments and the emphasis laid on the area of inclusive growth and digitalisation, Slovakia has chosen the "Use of Digital Transformation for Sustainable Development: Opportunities and Challenges" as the key theme for its presidency. This theme was strategically chosen to unite rather than divide member countries.
The aim of the Slovak presidency is to create an active platform for ministerial dialogue on such important themes as digital taxation, skills in the digital age, and trade in the era of digital transformation.
Ministers of the Slovak Republic are chairing individual panels and discussion groups during the OECD Council meeting. Minister of Finance Ladislav Kamenický is chairing the plenary session dealing in tax policy, and particularly in the progress achieved in the solution of tax challenges emerging with the digitalisation of economies. The aim of the plenary session discussions is to assess at the political level the status of negotiations and the process proposed to search for long-lasting global solutions on how to set taxation rules for the digital economy.
The ongoing digitalisation of the entire economy raises many questions and issues in the tax area which the tax systems of individual countries are unable to efficiently cope with. Analyses have also revealed that it is practically impossible to isolate the digital economy from the rest of the economy for tax purposes. "We need to reach an agreement on the domicile and amount of tax that supranational companies should pay on the activities they may offer in various countries without being physically present in those countries," said Minister of Finance Ladislav Kamenický. Therefore, the countries agreed to reach a consensus by 2020 on how to efficiently set global taxation rules for the digital economy. However, any solution found should be precise and as simple as possible to allow the tax administration and taxpayers to implement it easily.
This is the first time since becoming a member of the OECD in 2000 that Slovakia has presided over the ministerial meeting of the OECD Council. Slovakia is also the first Central European country to hold this function. In view of the upcoming 20th anniversary of Slovakia's becoming a member of the OECD, the presidency can also be taken as a symbolic culmination of its activities within this organisation.
Press Department
Ministry of Finance of the SR