A/HRC/43/45/Add.2 66. The human rights to access to water, land, food, livelihood, housing and cultural practices and heritage are at stake. In this regard, article 14 of the ILO Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention, 1989 (No. 169), provides that measures must be taken in appropriate cases to safeguard the right of the peoples concerned to use lands not exclusively occupied by them, but to which they have traditionally had access for their subsistence and traditional activities, and that particular attention must be paid to the situation of nomadic peoples. This point has also been considered by the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in several of its general comments and observations, including in its general comment No. 15 (2002) on the right to water (para. 16 (e)), in which it refers to States parties’ obligation to ensure that nomadic and traveller communities have access to adequate water at traditional and designated halting sites. 67. The tripartite council that was established as a result of the mediation process should not replace the legal requirement to consult with the community. In the short term, Oyu Tolgoi should continue its conversations with local communities until a solution that is satisfactory to all parties is reached, in line with international human rights standards. V. Tax and illicit financial flows 68. From a human rights perspective, fiscal policy is of particular importance, as it constitutes a tool for States to mobilize revenue and ultimately contribute to making resources available for the progressive realization of economic, social and cultural rights, as required under article 2 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. Both legislative and policy frameworks aimed at regulating tax matters and combating illicit financial flows, including tackling tax evasion, tax avoidance, money-laundering and corruption, are of specific relevance from a human rights perspective. A. Tax framework 69. In 2019, amendments were adopted on various tax-related matters, including nonresident taxation and corporate tax rates. Although the IMF observed fiscal overperformance in 2018, it is of concern that the individual income tax system in Mongolia is based solely on a flat rate of 10 per cent, complemented by a real estate corporate tax of 0.6 to 1.0 per cent. From a human rights perspective, it is difficult to argue in favour of supporting a tax policy that imposes similar rates on multimillionaires and the lowest income quintile. In 2018, of the 25.4 per cent tax revenue income, corporate tax accounted for 15.6 per cent whereas personal tax of 10.4 per cent.74 The proportion of public revenues collected by both taxes is similar, despite considerable differences in taxable income. Domestic resource mobilization can be a tool to ensure the realization of human rights and promote inclusive growth: increasing government revenues depends on robust redistributive and progressive taxation regimes.75 70. Until 2019, the tax rate for a business income of less than 3 billion tugriks was of 10 per cent, and for income above this threshold, 25 per cent. As a result of the most recent legislative amendments, the threshold for business income will be raised to 6 billion tugriks as of January 2020, thus allowing a greater number of enterprises to benefit from the 10 per cent rate. While non-resident corporate withholding profit tax is currently set at 20 per cent, double tax agreements can establish a lower tax rate between States parties. As a result of their implementation, non-residents can benefit from a withholding tax rate as low as 10 per cent, for instance.76 While this may result in a 50 per cent reduction in tax collection for a specific business, on a larger scale it has potential consequences for public resources and ultimately for human rights. 74 75 76 Figures provided by the Government (on file). Guiding principles, para. 11.2. Vincent Kiezebrink, Rhodante Ahlers and Sukhgerel Dugersuren, Mining Taxes: The Case of Oyu Tolgoi and Profitable Tax Avoidance by Rio Tinto in Mongolia (Amsterdam, Centre for Research on Multinational Corporations; Oyu Tolgoi Watch, Ulaanbaatar, 2018), p. 20. 13