United States Government Publishing Office publisher pbl distributor dst United States Government Accountability Office National Security and International Affairs Division author aut Government Organization text government publication eng GAOREPORTS Legislative Agency Publications gao legislative 2010-08-12 U.S. Government Printing Office 1996-11-08 monographic deposited born digital 17 p. GA 1.13:NSIAD-97-31 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-NSIAD-97-31 P0b002ee180371a00 f:ns97031 DGPO 2010-08-12 2011-03-24 GAOREPORTS-NSIAD-97-31 machine generated eng fdlp REPORT GAOREPORTS-NSIAD-97-31 NSIAD-97-31 International organizations Gifts or gratuities Taxes Cost sharing (finance) Borrowing authority Foreign governments International relations Other Written Product NSIAD

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the United Nations' ability to raise revenues outside of member assessments, focusing on: (1) whether U.N. organizations receive substantial contributions from private sources; (2) whether the United Nations has authority to implement revenue-raising options, including the imposition of taxes or fees within the jurisdictions of member states, and how the proposals would be processed in the U.N. system; (3) the U.S. position on U.N. authority to impose taxes within the jurisdictions of member states; and (4) U.N. proposals for raising revenues and the status of these proposals.<p/>GAO found that: (1) the United Nations receives very little financial support from private sources; (2) because the United Nations is an organization of sovereign states with no independent power of its own, it has no authority to impose taxes within the jurisdictions of its member states; (3) granting such authority would, at a minimum, require an amendment to the U.N. Charter which would require approval and ratification in accordance with the respective constitutional processes by two-thirds of the members of the General Assembly, including all permanent members of the Security Council; (4) the official position of the U.S. government is that it would veto any proposal to amend the U.N. Charter for this purpose; and (5) alternative revenue-raising ideas have been solicited within the U.N. system, and some U.N. member states, under the auspices of the Economic and Social Council, have studied various financing mechanisms, some of which involve the imposition of taxes within the jurisdictions of U.N. member states, but no formal proposals have been made. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-NSIAD-97-31/html/GAOREPORTS-NSIAD-97-31.htm https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-NSIAD-97-31/pdf/GAOREPORTS-NSIAD-97-31.pdf GAO/NSIAD-97-31 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-NSIAD-97-31 Other Written Product GAO/NSIAD-97-31; United Nations: Status of Alternative Revenue Raising Proposals; International organizations Gifts or gratuities Taxes Cost sharing (finance) Borrowing authority Foreign governments International relations Title 22 Section 287g Title 22 Section 287j 22 U.S.C. 287g 22 U.S.C. 287j Public Law 80-357