Country notes highlight some key findings from TALIS 2013 for individual countries and economies

A moderate expansion is underway in most major advanced and emerging economies, but growth remains weak in the euro area, which runs the risk of prolonged stagnation if further steps are not taken to boost demand, according to the OECD’s latest Interim Economic Assessment.

Low oil prices and monetary easing are boosting growth in the world’s major economies, but the near-term pace of expansion remains modest, withabnormally low inflation and interest rates pointing to risks of financial instability, according to the OECD’s latest Interim Economic Assessment.

Levels of alcohol consumption in Canada are close to the OECD average and have remained relatively stable in the last 20 years. In 2012, an average of 8.2 litres of pure alcohol per capita was consumed in Canada, compared with an estimate of 9.1 litres in the OECD.

This case study reviews the Canadian Elections Act, the primary legal framework for funding and oversight of political parties, candidates and campaigns. It also discusses role, mandate and practices of the Office of the Chief Electoral Officer of Canada, and the challenges presented going forward.

Governments should treat the opioid epidemic as a public health crisis and improve treatment, care and support for people misusing opioids. Overdose deaths continue to rise, fuelled by an increase in prescription and over-prescription of opioids for pain management and the illicit drugs trade, according to a new OECD report.

The most attractive OECD countries for highly qualified potential immigrants are Australia, Sweden, Switzerland, New Zealand and Canada, in part because of favourable admission and stay conditions.

The Secretary-General, Mr. Angel Gurría, will visit The Netherlands on 13th and 14th of March 2013, to attend the 2013 International Summit on the Teaching Profession. He will also go to The Hague and hold a bilateral meeting with Mr. Jeroen Dijsselbloem, Finance Minister.

Education at a Glance 2013 - Country notes and key fact tables

The Netherlands is a global pioneer in water management with a long history of containing flood risks and reclaiming land from the sea. Yet it will need to adapt its water governance policies to meet the looming challenges of shifting demographics, regional development and climate change, according to an OECD report.

Encouraging more people to work later in life would help the Netherlands meet its growing challenges of a rapidly ageing population and rising social spending, according to a new OECD report.

Country notes highlight some key findings from TALIS 2013 for individual countries and economies

The Netherlands should improve its policies to attract and retain highly skilled migrants in order to address labour shortages and strengthen its position as a knowledge-based economy, according to a new OECD report.

The Dutch education system and the skills of the Dutch population are very strong overall. But there are concerns that too many people in the Netherlands are not developing the “right” skills to succeed or taking sufficient responsibility for maintaining and further developing their skills in adulthood.

Education at a Glance 2013 - Country notes and key fact tables

Turkey’s economy will grow stronger in the coming years, but remains overly dependent on domestic consumption funded by foreign finance, according to the latest OECD Economic Survey of Turkey.

Turkey, an OECD member country, has endured several attacks in recent times. Each of these deeds is an offense to our collective freedoms, values and way of living. We categorically condemn these terrible acts.

OECD Secretary General Angel Gurría has condemned the terrorist attack that took place in Istanbul during the New Year celebrations, transmitting his support to President Erdoğan and the people of Turkey.

This document is a guide prepared for competition authorities to help them assess the expected impact of their activities. It provides a simple and easily-applicable methodology for determining the likely benefits that consumers will derive from the agencies’ decisions as well as suggestions on how to present the results of the assessment to ensure that these are correctly interpreted.

Governments are increasingly assessing the effects of their policies and effectiveness of public institutions, and competition agencies are no exception. This factsheet was elaborated to help competition agencies advocate their work. It contains evidence on the links between competition and macro-economic outcomes.

Turkey’s manufacturing sector has expanded considerably but not efficiently and competitively enough.

This report analyses procurement rules and regulations in Mexico's state-owed petroleum company (PEMEX) and makes policy recommendations to promote competition and fight bid rigging in accordance with international best practices.

This report explores the impact of innovative technologies on the electricity sector and examines priorities for regulatory policies that governments will need to put in place to negotiate the energy transition to a zero-carbon economy.

Mexico's tax-to-GDP ratio in 2018 (16.1%) was below the LAC average (23.1%)¹ in this year's Revenue Statistics in Latin America and the Caribbean publication by 6.9 percentage points and below the OECD average (34.3%).

Ms. Marlies de Ruiter has been appointed Head of the Tax Treaty, Transfer Pricing and Financial Transactions Division of the OECD's Center for Tax Policy and Administration. She will take up her duties on 1 February 2012.

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

Greece has signed the Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters, a multilateral agreement that was developed jointly by the Council of Europe and the OECD and that is open for signature to all countries.

Aggressive tax planning – untaxed income, multiple deductions and other forms of international tax arbitrage - is a growing concern for all governments.

Financial crimes, including corruption, tax fraud and money laundering, are a threat to all countries, both developing and developed. The sums are vast. Estimates have put total proceeds from all illicit activities at 3.6% of global GDP.

Invitation to attend the OECD-BIAC public briefing session on TRACE and FATCA

The amount of cross border portfolio investment exceeds 35 trillion USD. To encourage growth and cross-border investment more than 3000 tax treaties around the world based on the OECD Model reduce source taxation on a reciprocal basis.

OECD governments have committed to stepping up their efforts to tackle base erosion and profit shifting (BEPS) by endorsing the OECD's BEPS Declaration at the Organisation’s annual Ministerial Meeting in Paris.

National tax laws have not kept pace with the globalisation of corporations and the digital economy, leaving gaps that can be exploited by multi-national corporations to artificially reduce their taxes.

OECD Secretary-General Gurría today presented to G20 Leaders ground-breaking proposals to tackle tax evasion and avoidance by both companies and individuals. The proposals establish automatic exchange of information for tax purposes as the new international standard for tax co-operation and set out the Action Plan on Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS), which was first presented to G20 Finance Ministers in Moscow in July 2013.

OECD Secretary-General, Angel Gurría, congratulated Japanese Prime Minister Abe on his announcement today that Japan will raise its consumption tax as legislated from the current 5% to 8% next April.

Tax revenues continue bouncing back from the low levels reported in almost all countries during 2008 and 2009, at the height of the global economic crisis, according to new OECD data in the annual Revenue Statistics publication. The average tax revenue to GDP ratio in OECD countries was 34.6% in 2012, compared with 34.1% in 2011 and 33.8% in 2010.

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.

Public comments are invited on a discussion draft that includes the proposals produced with respect to Action 6 (Prevent Treaty Abuse) of the BEPS Action Plan.

Public comments are invited on discussion drafts that include the proposals produced with respect to Action 2 (Hybrid Mismatch Arrangements) of the BEPS Action Plan.

Public comments are invited on a discussion draft that includes the proposals produced with respect to Action 1 (Tax Challenges of the Digital Economy) of the BEPS Action Plan.

The OECD publishes comments received from interested parties on the discussion draft on Action 6 (Prevent Treaty Abuse) of the BEPS Action Plan.

Personal income tax has risen in 25 out of 34 OECD countries over the past three years, as countries reduce the value of tax-free allowances and tax credits and subject higher proportions of earnings to tax, according to new data in the annual Taxing Wages publication.

The governments of 86 countries have taken a key step towards preventing value added tax from weighing on trade while also safeguarding state revenues by endorsing the first internationally agreed framework for applying national VAT rules to cross-border transactions.

Article about OECD work with international partners to eradicate tax evasion and tax avoidance, published in G7 Brussels Summit magazine, June 2014

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.

Public comments are invited on request for input on BEPS Action 11 regarding work on establishing methodologies to collect and analyse data on BEPS and the actions to address it.

The OECD released today its first recommendations for a co-ordinated international approach to combat tax avoidance by multinational enterprises, under the OECD/G20 Base Erosion and Profit Shifting Project designed to create a single set of international tax rules to end the erosion of tax bases and the artificial shifting of profits to jurisdictions to avoid paying tax.

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 paper reviews the use of tax preferences to achieve environmental policy objectives. Tax preferences involve using the tax system to adjust relative prices with a view to influencing producer or consumer behaviour in favour of goods or services that are considered to be environmentally beneficial.

On 4 August 2014, interested parties were invited to comment on BEPS Action 11 regarding work on establishing methodologies to collect and analyse data on BEPS and the actions to address it. Comments received have now been published.