2016年CRI Meeting in Beijing over Tax Evasion（在线收听）

As the old saying goes: "There are only two certianties in life - death and taxes."

It's the latter that members of the OECD's Forum on Tax Administration have been meeting about.

The group, which represents around 40-different countries and international organziations, have been working together to try to coordinate their tax policies so they remain balanced.

Chinese Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli is among those who has taken part in the meetings.

He says by working together on issues surrounding taxes, countries around the world will be able to benefit from a broader increase in the global economy.

"Cooperating with other countries around the world through their various tax structures is important. While we realize that individual countries have the right to protect their own tax structure, we can still work together to root-out tax cheats and help smaller countries increase their enforcement."

One of the big issues discussed during this week's sessions in Beijing is a term tax officials call "BEPS."

"BEPS," or "Base Erosion and Profit Shifting, is when multi-nationals use their status in different countries to get around paying corporate taxes.

One recent example of a failed attempt at BEPS was the move by US drug maker Pfizer to try to take over Ireland-based Allergan.

The deal would have been worth around 130-billion US dollars.

It was viewed by most observers as an inversion, where Pfizer would shift its corporate headquarters to Ireland under the takeover, and thereby be subject to the much lower corporate taxes in Ireland than the company currently has to pay in the United States.

However, US officials stepped in and closed loop-holes, making the deal unpalatable for both companies.

This week's forum in Beijing, the first of its kind to be held in China, has been put-on by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.

OECD Deputy Secretary-General Rintaro Tamaki says by working together through their BEPS working group, countries around the world can might eventually be able to stop multi-nationals from paying their fair-share in taxes.

"If it's left unaddressed, BEPS can cause losses of up to 250 billion US dollars every year in government revenues. Participants in the BEPS project have worked together to ensure the integrity of international tax system, fight tax avoidance, shut down loopholes for tax avoidance and make sure everybody pays a fair share of taxes."

Issues surrounding BEPS and other concerns about international taxation will be part of the agenda at this year's G20 leaders summit set to be held in the city of Hangzhou in September.

For CRI, this is Liu Mohan.