Can both less income inequality and more growth be achieved? A recent OECD study sheds new light on the link between policies that boost growth and the distribution of income.

Public debt in the OECD area passed annual GDP in 2011 and is still rising. This paper was prepared for the Reserve Bank of India Second International Research Conference 2012: “Monetary Policy, Sovereign Debt and Financial Stability: The New Trilemma”, 1-2 February, 2012 in Mumbai, India

The Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes has just completed peer reviews of 11 jurisdictions. This brings to 70 the number of peer review reports completed since March 2010.

The OECD Committee on Fiscal Affairs invites public comments on a revised discussion draft on the meaning of “beneficial owner”, a term that is used in Articles 10, 11 and 12 of the OECD Model Tax Convention.

Tax revenues in Latin American countries are lower as a proportion of their national incomes than in most OECD countries, but are rising slowly. Revenue Statistics in Latin America shows that the average tax revenue to GDP ratio in the 15 Latin American countries covered by the report increased from 19% in 2009 to 19.4% in 2010, after falling from a high point of 19.7% in 2008.

On 19 October 2012, the OECD Committee on Fiscal Affairs released for public comment revised proposals concerning the meaning of “beneficial owner” in Articles 10, 11 and 12 of the OECD Model Tax Convention. The OECD has now published the comments received on this revised discussion draft.

The fiscal and taxation reforms will be more than ever necessary in China to ensure that growth becomes more inclusive. So far, China has had a major success in reducing the poverty. But additional tax reforms will be needed to reduce further inequality in disposable income and across regions, as well as to help reduce the rural-urban divide.

This study proposes a structured approach to selecting instruments of fiscal consolidation that are consistent with growth, equity and global-rebalancing objectives, which is then illustrated with a particular application.

The OECD today presented to G20 finance ministers plans for a two-pronged attack on tax avoidance and evasion from both companies and individuals.

Building an international tax system that is transparent, efficient and fair, will serve our economies, our governments and our citizens, said OECD Secretary-General at the G20 summit in St. Petersburg.

Vast amounts of money are kept off-shore and go untaxed. The more we do to combat tax fraud and evasion, the more resources we will have to finance growth-enhancing public investment, restore the health of public finances, and put the euro area economy back on a sustained and long-term recovery, said OECD Secretary-General.

OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurria welcomed today Liechtenstein’s announcement of plans to sign the Multilateral Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters and take further steps to increase transparency and international co-operation.

The international community has taken new steps to strengthen transparency and boost the comprehensive exchange of information between governments worldwide.

Tax revenues in Latin American countries continue to rise but are lower as a proportion of their national incomes than in most OECD countries. Revenue Statistics in Latin America 2012 shows that Argentina and Brazil have the highest tax revenue to GDP ratio, while Guatemala and Dominican Republic stand at the lower end.

OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurría has welcomed moves by more than 40 countries – reinforced by EU leaders - to commit to a detailed timetable to step up the fight against tax evasion.

The shares of the richest 1% in total pre-tax income have increased in most OECD countries over the past three decades. This rise is the result of the top 1% capturing a disproportionate share of overall income growth over that timeframe: up to 37% in Canada and 47% in the United States, according to new OECD analysis.

At the G20’s request, the OECD is leading the development of a strategy to address base erosion and profit shifting (BEPS). The Development Working Group has asked the OECD to draw together the experiences of developing countries and international organisations in a report on the main sources of BEPS in developing countries and how these relate to the OECD/G20 BEPS Action Plan on this issue.

As the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) approach their expiry date, we must focus our efforts on ensuring a brighter, more inclusive and sustainable future for all. We face a plethora of common issues: growing inequalities; changing consumption patterns and population dynamics; increasing natural resource scarcity; and ongoing illicit financial flows.

Action 10 of the Action Plan on Base Erosion and Profit Shifting directs the OECD to develop transfer pricing rules to provide protection against common types of base eroding payments. A discussion draft of proposed modifications to Chapter VII of the Transfer Pricing Guidelines relating to low value-adding intra-group services was released for comment by interested parties today

The G20 needs to go structural, social, and green! With fiscal and monetary policy room nearly exhausted, structural reforms are the best choices, sometimes the only choice. The OECD battle cry in this regard has been unchanged since 2008: “go structural!”.

Public comments are invited on a discussion draft which deals with follow-up work mandated by the Report on Action 6 (“Prevent the granting of treaty benefits in inappropriate circumstances”) of the BEPS Action Plan.

On 21 November 2014, the OECD invited comments from interested parties on the discussion draft on Action 6 (Prevent treaty abuse) of the BEPS Action Plan. The OECD now publishes the comments received.

On 3 November 2014, the OECD invited comments from interested parties on the discussion draft of proposed modifications to Chapter VII of the Transfer Pricing Guidelines covering low value-adding intra-group services relating to Action 10 of the BEPS Action plan.

Third Annual Conference on the theme of "Fiscal Policies and the Green Economy Transition: Generating Knowledge – Creating Impact" held at the University of Venice from 29 through 30 January 2015. The press release is available.

The agreed mandate authorises the formation of an ad-hoc negotiating group, open to participation from all states. The group will be hosted by the OECD and will hold its first meeting by July 2015, with an aim to conclude drafting by 31 December 2016.

The OECD’s Annual Meeting at Ministerial Level reinforced member governments’ support across a broad range of key OECD work.

On 22 May 2015, interested parties were invited to comment on a revised discussion draft which includes proposals on how to deal with the follow-up work on Action 6 (Prevent treaty abuse) of the BEPS Action Plan.

Uganda today signed the Multilateral Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters. The Convention provides for all forms of administrative assistance in tax matters: exchange of information on request, spontaneous exchange, automatic exchange, tax examinations abroad, simultaneous tax examinations and assistance in tax collection. It guarantees extensive safeguards for the protection of taxpayers’ rights.

The leaders of the world’s 20 largest economies today endorsed overhauled global standards proposed by the OECD to crack down on tax evasion and reaffirmed the organisation’s central role in helping governments ensure strong, sustainable and inclusive growth.

Niue today signed the Multilateral Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters. The Convention provides for all forms of administrative assistance in tax matters: exchange of information on request, spontaneous exchange, automatic exchange, tax examinations abroad, simultaneous tax examinations and assistance in tax collection. It guarantees extensive safeguards for the protection of taxpayers’ rights.

Senegal today signed the Multilateral Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters. Senegal is the 11th country of the African continent to sign the Convention and the 93rd jurisdiction to join it. Simultaneously to signing the Convention, Senegal today also became the 32nd signatory of Multilateral Competent Authority Agreement for the automatic exchange of Country-by-Country reports (CbC MCAA).

Kenya today signed the Multilateral Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters. Kenya is the 12th African country to sign the Convention and the 94th jurisdiction to join it.

Despite a continuing slowdown in economic growth, tax revenues in Latin American and Caribbean countries rose slightly in 2014, as a proportion of national incomes, according to new data from the annual Revenue Statistics in Latin America and the Caribbean publication.

The issue of illicit financial flows (IFFS) is at the forefront of the international agenda. Both the OECD and the High Level Panel have focused attention on this problem and have identified ways in which to tackle it.

The OECD and the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes announced today that Bahrain, Lebanon, Nauru, Panama and Vanuatu have now committed to share financial account information automatically with other countries.

If there is a silver lining to the 2008 financial crisis, it is that it was a catalyst for the unprecedented progress we have made in building robust international tax standards for the interconnected global economy of the 21st century.

Mrs Rosa Hernández de Grullón, Ambassador of the Dominican Republic to France and Mr John Petersen, Advisor to the Minister of Finance of Nauru, signed the Multilateral Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters in the presence of Deputy Secretary General Rintaro Tamaki, therewith becoming the 97th and 98th jurisdictions to join the Convention.

Governments should use tax policy to drive forward economic agendas that seek to boost growth while sharing the benefits more evenly within society, according to a new OECD report.

The Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes (the Global Forum) published today 10 new peer review reports demonstrating continuing progress toward implementation of the international standard for exchange of information on request.

Today, Kuwait joined the 83 current signatories to the CRS Multilateral Competent Authority Agreement ("CRS MCAA"), the key international framework agreement for putting in place the automatic exchange of information on offshore financial accounts foreseen by the OECD Common Reporting Standard (CRS).

Today, at the OECD Headquarters in Paris, Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar, Minister of Finance of Pakistan, signed the Multilateral Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters.

While fiscal consolidation was the key driver of tax reforms in the years+33 following the global economic crisis, the main emphasis of recent tax reforms has shifted back to tax measures aimed at boosting economic growth, according to a new OECD report.

Switzerland, represented by Ambassador Ulrich Lehner , today deposited its instrument of ratification for the multilateral Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters ("the Convention") in the presence of OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurría.

Taxes on the labour income of the average worker in Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) countries totalled 21.7% of total labour costs in 2013, one-third lower than in OECD countries, where the average was 35.9%, according to the first edition of Taxing Wages in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Today, as a further step to implement the OECD Common Reporting Standard (CRS), the first series of bilateral automatic exchange relationships were established among the first batch of jurisdictions committed to exchanging information automatically as of 2017.

As part of continuing efforts to boost transparency by multinational enterprises (MNEs), Brazil, Guernsey, Jersey, the Isle of Man and Latvia signed today the Multilateral Competent Authority Agreement (MCAA) for the automatic exchange of Country-by-Country reports, bringing the total number of signatories to 49.

Today at the OECD Headquarters in Paris, Mr. Andrew Haigh, Collector of Inland Revenue of the Cook Islands, signed the Multilateral Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters.

The effect of the size and mix of public spending on growth and inequality

Using fiscal levers to escape the low-growth trap

Tax revenues collected in advanced economies have continued to increase from last year’s all-time high, with taxes on labour and consumption representing an increasing share of total tax revenues, according to new OECD research.