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

The Article demonstrates that the most important initiatives to promote inclusivity within the international tax regime (Country-by-Country Reporting, the Multilateral Instrument, and the Inclusive Framework), based on publicly available data and a variety of indicators, have, at best, done little to increase meaningful participation of non-OECD countries in the regime, and have been disingenuous at worst. This indirect methodology was dictated by the opacity of the analyzed efforts and the difficulties of evaluating inclusivity, but the picture it paints is unmistakable. Using Hirschman’s exit and voice theory, the article concludes by explaining why the OECD asked non-member states to join these efforts and why they have nominally joined. Based on this study, it is concluded that the issues that prompted the establishment of inclusive fora within the international tax regime will not “go away” with such nominal inclusion, and that only meaningful inclusivity has the potential to stabilize the international tax regime.