Competition policy is vital for creating opportunities for small business and big industry alike. It benefits consumers by reducing prices and increasing the choice of goods and services. This joint World Bank Group-OECD event showcased countries whose pro-competition reform efforts serve as examples for their regional and international peers and introduced tools to guide the design of new and improved policies.

This document describes and discusses a new supply side framework that quantifies the impact of structural reforms on per capita income in OECD countries.

"Tax co-operation and compliance are of crucial importance for all countries and citizens - and not only in times of a tight fiscal and budgetary environment,” said OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurría from the Cannes G20 Summit.

OECD countries acknowledge that taxes must play a role in the process of fiscal consolidation as they battle unprecedented budget deficits. In 2010, the majority of OECD governments have stabilised their tax to GDP, with the average ratio moving up slightly from 33.8% in 2009 to 33.9% in 2010.

Increased domestic resource mobilization is widely accepted as crucial for countries to successfully meet the challenges of development and achieve higher living standards for all their people.

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 average tax and social security burden on employment incomes increased in 26 out of 34 OECD countries in 2011 according to the new OECD Taxing Wages publication. Tax payers in Ireland, Luxembourg, Portugal and the Slovak Republic were among those hit with the largest increases.

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.

New data show that across OECD countries the average tax and social security burden on employment incomes increased by 0.1 of a percentage point to 35.6 per cent in 2012. It increased in 19 out of 34 countries, fell in 14, and remained unchanged in 1.

All of the world’s financial centres, under the impetus of the G20, and adopting the standards developed by the OECD, made a commitment in 2009 to putting an end to tax-motivated bank secrecy. Most of the countries have kept their word but major progress must still be made, said OECD Secretary-General.

As a further sign of international efforts to crack down on tax offenders, 12 more countries have signed, or committed to sign, the OECD’s Multilateral Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters. In addition, another 6 countries have ratified the Convention.

Over 300 senior tax officials from more than 100 jurisdictions and international organisations met in Paris on 26-27 September 2013 during the 18th Annual Tax Treaty Meeting to discuss solutions to unintended double non-taxation caused by base erosion and profit shifting (BEPS).

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.

This paper sets out four possible approaches to addressing the concerns over the lack of data on transfer pricing comparables expressed by developing countries.

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.

Tax revenues are currently rising as a proportion of national incomes in Indonesia and Malaysia but continue to be substantially lower than for Korea, Japan and other OECD countries, according to a new OECD report.

Bank secrecy for tax purposes is coming to an end as countries and major financial centres commit to automatic exchange of information between jurisdictions.

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.

The OECD has been mandated by the G20 to develop toolkits to support developing countries addressing base erosion and profit shifting (BEPS) and to launch pilot tests to assist them to move towards automatic exchange of information.

Almost 300 senior tax officials from more than 100 countries and international organisations met in Paris on 25-26 September 2014 during the 19th Annual Global Forum on Tax Treaties to discuss solutions to unintended double non-taxation caused by base erosion and profit shifting (BEPS).

This page shows a full table of comments received from the public on the Interim Draft Paper on Transfer Pricing Comparability Data and Developing Countries.

The OECD released today its new Strategy for Deepening Developing Country Engagement in the Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) Project, which will strengthen their involvement in the decision-making processes and bring them to the heart of the technical work.

On 10-11 December, officials from fourteen developing countries discussed ways to maximise benefits from their recent commitment to enhanced engagement in the BEPS Project.

Delegates from over 90 jurisdictions have gathered at the OECD Conference Centre in Paris in two meetings devoted to discussing solutions to base erosion and profit shifting (BEPS).

The OECD and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) have launched a new initiative to help developing countries bolster domestic revenues by strengthening their tax audit capacities.

OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurría today called on all countries to fully engage with the new Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and said advanced and emerging economies had a particular responsibility to translate the global goals into national policy and to support developing countries in doing the same.

This stocktaking report profiles the tax treatment of funded private pension plans across all OECD and EU countries. The information refers to 2015 or the latest year with available data and covers all types of funded private pension plans in each country.

In-depth discussions took place this week as the international community continues to make progress on the international tax agenda. Officials from more than 100 countries drawing from tax authorities, ministries of finance, development agencies, as well as regional and international organisations, business and civil society came together in a series of meetings hosted by the OECD.

Asian representatives from Ministries of Finance and Tax administrations gathered in Seoul, Korea on 14-15 October 2015 to discuss the framework for harmonising their revenue statistics.

As part of continuing efforts to boost transparency by multinational enterprises (MNEs), 31 countries signed today the Multilateral Competent Authority Agreement (MCAA) for the automatic exchange of Country-by-Country reports. The signing ceremony marks an important milestone towards implementation of the OECD/G20 BEPS Project and a significant increase in cross-border cooperation on tax matters.

The OECD today agreed a new framework that would allow all interested countries and jurisdictions to join in efforts to update international tax rules for the 21st Century. The proposal for broadening participation in the OECD/G20 Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) Project will be presented to G20 Finance Ministers at their next meeting on 26-27 February in Shanghai, China.

On 22-23 February 2016, a regional network meeting on the implementation of the BEPS package was held in Dakar (Senegal), by the OECD in partnership with the CREDAF (Centre de Rencontres et d'Etudes des Dirigeants des Administrations Fiscales).

On 1-3 March 2016, the OECD hosted two important events for the international tax community. The Task Force on Tax and Development and the Global Forum on Transfer Pricing gathered over 230 participants representing 84 jurisdictions and 11 international and regional organisations.

Tax revenues in African countries are rising as a proportion of national incomes, according to the inaugural edition of Revenue Statistics in Africa. In 2014, the eight countries covered by the report - Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Mauritius, Morocco, Rwanda, Senegal, South Africa and Tunisia - reported tax revenues as a percentage of GDP ranging from 16.1% to 31.3%.

As part of continuing efforts to boost transparency by multinational enterprises (MNEs), Canada, Iceland, India, Israel, New Zealand and the People’s Republic of China signed today the Multilateral Competent Authority agreement for the automatic exchange of Country-by-Country reports (“CbC MCAA”), bringing the total number of signatories to 39 countries. The signing ceremony took place in Beijing, China.

The four organisations, working jointly as the members of the new Platform for Collaboration on Tax have developed a series of recommendations and enabling actions which are laid out in this draft summary document. The Platform organisations seek comments from interested stakeholders on these recommendations by 8 July 2016.

G20 Finance Ministers, in their communique of February 2016, called upon the IMF, OECD, UN and World Bank Group to “recommend mechanisms to help ensure effective implementation of technical assistance programmes, and recommend how countries can contribute funding for tax projects and direct technical assistance, and report back with recommendations” at their July meeting.

More than 100 jurisdictions have concluded negotiations on a multilateral instrument that will swiftly implement a series of tax treaty measures to update international tax rules and lessen the opportunity for tax avoidance by multinational enterprises.

56 delegates from 13 countries gathered in Tunis for the first regional meeting of the Inclusive Framework on Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) after its launch in Kyoto on 30 June-1 July 2016. This meeting belongs to a new series of events that offer participants from different regions in the world the opportunity to feed their views and provide their input into the Inclusive Framework on BEPS.

Responding to a request by the Development Working Group of the G20, the Platform for Collaboration on Tax – a joint initiative of the IMF, OECD, UN and World Bank Group – has developed a draft toolkit designed to assist developing countries in an important area of international tax policy: transfer pricing.

The Platform for Collaboration on Tax (PCT) – a joint initiative of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), United Nations (UN) and World Bank Group – has published a toolkit to provide practical guidance to developing countries to better protect their tax bases.

Fifty delegates representing 10 countries gathered in Cotonou (Benin) on 3-5 July 2017 for the second regional meeting of the Inclusive Framework on Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) for French speaking countries. These regional meetings offer participants from around the world the opportunity to provide their views and input to the Inclusive Framework on BEPS.

Countries have continued the trend towards implementing tax policy reforms as part of wider strategies to boost growth, with a growing focus on reducing inequalities and driving behavioural change, according to a new report from the OECD.

Every worker and employer is directly affected by taxes on wages. Taxation is one of the principal ways we finance public services. It also helps us achieve important social objectives, such as redistributing wealth to address inequalities. But as the OECD’s annual Taxing Wages points out, tax policies on labour income may have an impact on individuals’ behaviour with respect to the labour market or their consumption habits.

Ministers and high-level officials from Barbados, Côte d’Ivoire, Jamaica, Malaysia, Panama and Tunisia have today signed the BEPS Multilateral Convention bringing the total number of signatories to 78. This Convention updates the existing network of bilateral tax treaties and reduces opportunities for tax avoidance by multinational enterprises.

Major international organizations -including the IMF, OECD, UN and World Bank Group- today called on governments from around the world to strengthen and increase the effectiveness of their tax systems to generate the domestic resources needed to meet the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and promote inclusive economic growth.

More than 110 countries and jurisdictions have agreed to review two key concepts of the international tax system, responding to a mandate from the G20 Finance Ministers to work on the implications of digitalisation for taxation.

Building on BEPS Action 4, this practice note has been prepared by the OECD under a programme of co-operation with the Intergovernmental Forum on Mining, Minerals, Metals and Sustainable Development (IGF), to help guide tax officials on how to strengthen their defences against BEPS. Deadline for comment: 18 May 2018.

Workers in OECD countries paid just over a quarter of their gross wages in tax on average in 2017, with just over half of countries seeing small increases in the personal average tax rate, according to a new OECD report.

This draft toolkit has been prepared by the Intergovernmental Forum on Mining, Minerals, Metals and Sustainable Development (IGF), under a programme of co-operation with the OECD, to help governments anticipate and limit the cost of mining tax incentives. It is part of wider efforts to address some of the challenges developing countries are facing in raising revenue from their mining sectors.