80 delegates from 20 countries and 11 organisations gathered in Bratislava for the third regional meeting of the Inclusive Framework on Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) in the Eastern Europe and Central Asia region. This meeting belongs to a new series of regional events that offer participants from different regions in the world the opportunity to provide their views and input into the Inclusive Framework on BEPS.

On 22 September 2017, interested parties were invited to provide comments on the tax challenges of digitalisation. The OECD is grateful to the commentators for their input and now publishes the public comments received. A public consultation will be held on 1 November 2017 at the Univeristy of California, Berkeley.

The OECD will hold a public consultation event on the tax challenges of digitalisation on 1 November at the University of California, Berkeley, United States.

International tax experts gathered today at the OECD in Paris to share experiences and identify best practices in the implementation of Tax Inspectors Without Borders (TIWB) programmes.

The OECD will hold a public consultation event on transfer pricing matters on 6-7 November at the OECD Conference Centre in Paris, France.

The OECD has published updated versions of transfer pricing country profiles (TPCP), reflecting the current transfer pricing legislation and practices of a large number of participating countries.

Pricing carbon is one of the surest policy means we know for curbing greenhouse gas emissions and meeting the targets of the Paris Climate Agreement agreed in 2015. Has there been any progress with its implementation since then? Not enough, is the verdict of some of the world’s leading experts.

Avoiding the potentially very high costs of climate change requires transitioning to a low carbon economy. Carbon pricing, in the form of emissions trading systems or taxes, helps to reduce emissions, but what is its role in driving the low carbon transition?

Today, in the margins of the 10th Global Forum meeting on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes held in Yaoundé, Cameroon Finance Minister Alamine Ousmane Mey, led a discussion with Ministers, high level representatives and officials from Africa on tax fraud and avoidance.

Tax burdens and revenue collection across the OECD countries are reaching levels not seen since before the global financial crisis. Nevertheless, the tax mix varies enormously across the advanced economies.

One of the elements of the Action 14 minimum standard requires jurisdictions to seek to resolve mutual agreement procedure (“MAP”) cases within an average timeframe of 24 months. To monitor compliance with this element, members of the Inclusive Framework on BEPS have committed to report their MAP statistics pursuant to an agreed reporting framework.

Over the last 50 years, the OECD led the way on tax issues and has been at the forefront of promoting transparency and co-operation in tax matters. Discover the international state of play with an interactive map presenting key indicators and outcomes of the OECD work on international tax matters, with close to 150 countries and jurisdictions.

As part of continuing efforts to boost transparency by multinational enterprises (MNEs), Qatar has signed the Multilateral Competent Authority Agreement for Country-by-Country Reporting (CbC MCAA), bringing the total number of signatories to 68.

Today, a further important step was taken to implement Country-by-Country (CbC) Reporting in accordance with the BEPS Action 13 minimum standard, through activations of automatic exchange relationships under the Multilateral Competent Authority Agreement on the Exchange of CbC Reports ("the CbC MCAA").

On 11 December 2017, interested parties were invited to provide comments on a discussion draft on model mandatory disclosure rules. The model rules are intended to target promoters and service providers with a material involvement in the design, marketing or implementation of CRS avoidance arrangements or offshore structures.

A pilot of a new FTA programme for the multilateral risk assessment of large MNE groups was launched at an event today in Washington DC, hosted by the Internal Revenue Service.

This paper presents data on carryover provisions in 34 countries and compares their effects on the basis of two comparable indices. Empirical results show that in most countries corporate tax is not perfectly symmetric, suggesting the existence of tax-induced distortions towards less risky investments.

During a meeting on International Tax Reform, the Ministry of Finance and the OECD launched a programme on "Enhancing Domestic Resource Mobilisation in Egypt through a better tax and exchange of information system". The project, financed by the EU, provides EUR 1.2 million in funding over two and a half years, and will assist Egypt in the implementation of the new international standards to tackle tax avoidance and tax evasion.

The Multilateral Convention to Implement Tax Treaty Related Measures to Prevent Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (the “Convention”) will enter into force on 1 July 2018, marking a significant step in international efforts to update the existing network of bilateral tax treaties and reduce opportunities for tax avoidance by multinational enterprises.

Tax revenues in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) dipped in 2016, falling further behind average OECD country levels, but a recovery is likely in subsequent years, according to Revenue Statistics in Latin America and the Caribbean 2018. The average tax-to-GDP ratio stood at 22.7% in 2016, a fall of 0.3 percentage points since 2015, the report says.

The Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes (the Global Forum) published today nine peer review reports assessing compliance with international standards on tax transparency.

Today, the OECD published a new set of bilateral exchange relationships established under the Common Reporting Standard Multilateral Competent Authority Agreement (CRS MCAA) which for the first time includes activations by Panama. The OECD also released the second edition of the Common Reporting Standard Implementation Handbook.

The OECD has published 14 new and 2 updated transfer pricing country profiles, reflecting the current transfer pricing legislation and practices of participating countries. The country profiles, which are now available for 44 countries, contain up-to-date and harmonised information on key aspects of transfer pricing legislation, provided by countries themselves.

The consultation document assessed how these schemes are used in an attempt to circumvent the CRS; identified the types of schemes that present a high risk of abuse; reminded stakeholders of the importance of correctly applying relevant CRS due diligence procedures in order to help prevent such abuse; and explained next steps the OECD will undertake to further address the issue, assisted by public input.

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.

Public comments are invited on the future revision of Chapter IV, “Administrative Approaches to Avoiding and Resolving Transfer Pricing Disputes” of the Transfer Pricing Guidelines, and the future revision of Chapter VII, “Special Considerations for Intra-Group Services”, of the Transfer Pricing Guidelines.

Today, Serbia deposited its instrument of ratification for the Multilateral Convention to Implement Tax Treaty Related Measures to Prevent Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (multilateral convention or MLI) with the OECD’s Secretary-General, Angel Gurría, therewith underlining its strong commitment to prevent the abuse of tax treaties and base erosion and profit shifting (BEPS) by multinational enterprises.

Today, the OECD and the African Tax Administration Forum (ATAF) signed a renewal of their Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) until June 2023, agreeing to continue to work together to improve tax systems in Africa. The MoU sets their co-operation towards the achievement of the common objective of promoting fair and efficient tax systems and administrations in Africa.

Today, the OECD released two reports containing Guidance for Tax Administrations on the Application of the Approach to Hard-to-Value Intangibles under BEPS Action 8; and Revised Guidance on the Application of the Transactional Profit Split Method under BEPS Action 10.

Public comments received on the scope of the future revisions of Chapter IV (Administrative Approaches) and Chapter VII (Intra-group services) of the Transfer Pricing Guidelines

Estonia becomes the 82nd jurisdiction to join the MLI. Estonia’s signature follows the signatures by Kazakhstan, Peru and the United Arab Emirates earlier this week. JAlso today, the United Kingdom deposited its instrument of ratification for the Multilateral Instrument with the OECD.

The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia today signed the multilateral Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters, making it the 124th jurisdiction to join the world’s leading instrument for boosting transparency and combating cross-border tax evasion.

Public comments are invited on a discussion draft on financial transactions, which deals with follow-up work in relation to Actions 8-10 ("Assure that transfer pricing outcomes are in line with value creation") of the BEPS Action Plan.

Today, the OECD published a new set of bilateral exchange relationships established under the Common Reporting Standard Multilateral Competent Authority Agreement (CRS MCAA), bringing the total number of relationships to over 3200, an increase of more than 500 since April of this year.

The Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes (the Global Forum), published today seven peer review reports assessing compliance with the international standard on tax transparency and exchange of information on request (EOIR).

Over 70 participants from 20 countries in Europe and Central Asia gathered Georgia for a high-level regional event on Developments in International Tax Co-operation on 17-18 July 2018. Participants discussed policy responses to fighting tax evasion and avoidance, as well as the opportunities and challenges presented by the practical implementation of international standards on tax transparency and BEPS.

Antigua and Barbuda today signed the Multilateral Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters. It is the 125th jurisdiction to join the Convention.

The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) has become the 117th jurisdiction to join the Inclusive Framework on BEPS (“IF”).

4-5 September 2018, Paris - The OECD Blockchain Policy Forum on "Distributed Ledgers: Opportunities and Challenges" was the first major international conference to take stock of blockchain’s impacts across the full range of government activities and public priorities.

This paper reviews and evaluates the efficacy of simplified tax registration and collection mechanisms for securing compliance of taxpayers over which the jurisdiction with taxing rights has limited or no authority to effectively enforce a tax collection or other compliance obligation.

The OECD has published new transfer pricing country profiles for Costa Rica, Greece, Republic of Korea, Panama, Seychelles, South Africa and Turkey. In addition, it has also updated the information contained in Singapore’s profile. The country profiles are now available for 52 countries.

On 3 July 2018, interested parties were invited to provide comments on a discussion draft on financial transactions, which deals with follow-up work in relation to Actions 8-10 (“Assure that transfer pricing outcomes are in line with value creation”) of the BEPS Action Plan. The OECD is grateful to the commentators for their input and now publishes the public comments received.

Governments need to raise carbon prices much faster if they are to meet their commitments on cutting emissions and slowing the pace of climate change under the Paris Agreement, according to a new OECD report.

Australia, France, Japan and the Slovak Republic have deposited their instrument of ratification or acceptance for the Multilateral Convention to Implement Tax Treaty Related Measures to Prevent Base Erosion and Profit Shifting with the OECD’s Secretary-General, therewith underlining their strong commitment to prevent the abuse of tax treaties and BEPS by multinational enterprises.

An innovative international co-operation initiative that deploys qualified experts in developing countries to strengthen their ability to effectively tax multinational enterprises has achieved significant milestones over the past year, according to a new annual report.

The four partner organisations to the Platform for Collaboration on Tax (PCT) will discuss critical challenges and opportunities for mobilising domestic resources to meet countries’ development priorities, at the upcoming IMF-World Bank annual meetings in Bali, Indonesia.

Members of the Inclusive Framework on BEPS have committed to report their MAP statistics pursuant to an agreed reporting framework and to publish them on a yearly basis. The 2017 MAP statistics are now available covering 85 jurisdictions and almost all MAP cases worldwide. They contain detailed information on each jurisdiction as well as aggregated global information.

The Global Forum published today seven peer review reports assessing compliance with the international standard on transparency and exchange of information on request (EOIR).

The OECD’s Centre for Tax Policy and Administration and the Intergovernmental Forum on Mining, Minerals, Metals and Sustainable Development (IGF) are collaborating to address some of the challenges developing countries face in raising revenue from their mining sectors. Under this partnership, a series of practice notes and tools are being developed for governments.

The OECD is pleased to announce that jurisdictions are taking further action to prevent the misuse of RBI/CBI schemes by account holders by putting in place an exchange of information mechanism that will ensure that the information on applicants of RBI/CBI schemes will be made available to their jurisdiction(s) of tax residence.