Malta has reiterated its commitment to fighting aggressive tax planning, joining other EU member states who have unanimously agreed to amend the EU's tax information sharing law, the Directive on Administrative Cooperation.

Malta's Commissioner for Revenue recently announced electronic filing deadline extensions for corporate income tax returns.

Malta's Commissioner for Revenue on January 2, 2020, issued a single set of guidelines on the automatic exchange of financial account information.

On February 20, 2020, Malta's Commissioner for Revenue said tax payments by bank draft or check issued by foreign banks will no longer be accepted.

The Belgian tax agency has issued a reminder to value-added tax-registered persons of their obligations to file VAT returns and pay VAT during the holiday season.

On May 2, 2019, Belgium's finance ministry confirmed that the Tax-on-web portal has been opened for personal and corporate income tax returns for the 2019 fiscal year.

Belgium's tax authority has announced corporate tax return filing deadlines for the 2019 tax year, with a concession for those with a deadline prior to September 26, 2019.

Belgium's tax agency has announced that its MyMinfin portal is now open for multinational taxpayers seeking to correct errors in filed country-by-country reports.

On December 9, 2019, the Belgian Federal Public Finance Service reminded vendors that since December 1, 2019, they are required to round off cash payments to the nearest five cents.

The UK Government on January 10, 2020, released the synthesized text of the 1987 Belgium-UK double tax agreement, as modified by the BEPS multilateral instrument.

On January 24, 2020, the European Commission issued formal notices to numerous European Union member states with regards to lapses in the implementation of various EU anti-tax avoidance directives.

On March 24, 2020, the Belgian tax authority announced value-added tax will not be levied on medical equipment donated to hospitals and healthcare facilities.

Invest Hong Kong, Hong Kong's inward investment agency, has encouraged Mainland Chinese companies to make use of new tax incentives in Hong Kong.

China intends to implement numerous changes to its trade tariffs from January 1, 2018, to ensure domestic businesses have access to inputs and equipment and to implement changes in prior international agreements.

Hong Kong published two bills in its Official Gazette on December 29 to introduce provisions to counter base erosion and profit shifting and to alter its business tax regime.

Hong Kong has relaxed the rules for those buying residential property, with the publication in the Official Gazette of The Stamp Duty (Amendment) Ordinance 2018 on January 19, 2018.

The International Monetary Fund has urged Hong Kong to consider tax reform options to boost revenues while maintaining the economy's competitiveness and flexibility.

Hong Kong on February 2, 2018, ratified an Ordinance to enable the territory to soon join the OECD's Multilateral Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters and thereby more simply and more broadly agree to exchange tax information with other countries' tax authorities.

Hong Kong's new Budget contained a number of new tax perks for individuals and measures to promote the adoption of environmentally friendly technologies, but few measures for businesses.

Hong Kong's Inland Revenue Department on March 5 launched its new Country-by-Country Reporting Portal.

On March 9 Hong Kong's Inland Revenue Department gazetted the Inland Revenue (Amendment) Bill 2018, containing measures worth HKD30bn (USD3.82bn) announced in the Budget.

Hong Kong and India on March 19 signed an agreement to avoid double taxation and limit withholding tax rates on passive income at source.

Hong Kong has gazetted an ordinance to establish a new two-tier corporate tax regime from April 1, 2018.

The Hong Kong Government has released a draft bill containing its 2017 proposal to provide an enhanced tax deduction for research and development expenditure.

Hong Kong's Government has published a draft law preserving the profits tax exemption for offshore venture capital funds who participate in the island's new Innovation and Technology Venture Fund.

Hong Kong's Government says it is studying the feasibility of introducing a tax on vacant "first-hand" private residential properties.

On June 14, 2018, Hong Kong's Inland Revenue Department released guidance on the tax obligations of landlords.

Hong Kong's Legislative Council has passed legislation to improve the jurisdiction's tax incentives for research and development spending.

Hong Kong's Inland Revenue Department has noted that, starting from the year of assessment 2018/19, capital expenditure incurred for procuring environmental protection installations should be deducted in a single year, rather than over five years.

Hong Kong's Inland Revenue Department has released new guidance notes on the deduction of foreign taxes.

Switzerland's agreements for the automatic exchange of financial account information with Hong Kong and Singapore have entered into force.

New Zealand is the easiest place in the world to do business, according to the World Bank's new Doing Business 2020 report, which looks at the simplicity of setting up, operating, and paying taxes in 190 territories around the world.

The Hong Kong Government has published in the Gazette legislation to provide profits tax concessions to certain ship lessors and ship leasing managers.

Hong Kong's 2020 Budget includes plans for a one-off reduction of profits tax, salaries tax, and tax under personal assessment.

Hong Kong has updated its guidance on advance rulings, to reflect changes to Hong Kong's practices as a result of its efforts to comply with the OECD's minimum standards proposed as part of the base erosion and profit shifting (BEPS) Action Plan.

Switzerland's country-by-country reporting regime meets international standards and the country effectively exchanges the reports it receives with other countries, an OECD peer review has concluded.

On October 23, the Swiss Federal Council adopted a dispatch on a protocol to the double tax agreement with Iran, which implements the minimum standards for such agreements.

The Swiss Government has published guidance on the legislation that brings into force the recommendations made by the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes.

Switzerland and the EU are to link their emissions trading systems from next year, after the Swiss Federal Council approved revisions to the country's Ordinance on the Reduction of CO2 Emissions.

Switzerland is to amend its domestic framework for the automatic exchange of information, in line with recommendations made by the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes.

The Swiss Federal Tax Authority has released new English-language guidance for foreign businesses on their obligations under Swiss VAT law.

Switzerland and Italy are to amend the customs status of the Italian enclave of Campione d'Italia.

The Swiss Federal Council has launched a consultation on proposals to close what it says is a loophole in the withholding tax system, in a bid to strengthen the country's debt market.

The UAE's Federal Tax Authority (FTA) has changed the deadline for firms preparing to file a VAT return for the first time.

Businesses registered for the United Arab Emirates's value-added tax need to complete a four-step online procedure to file their tax returns, the Federal Tax Authority has said.

Bahrain has committed to pushing towards the introduction of the Gulf Cooperation Council's value-added tax framework by the end of the year.

The EU has removed three countries from its list of non-cooperative tax jurisdictions and added a further three.

The first quarterly value-added tax filing deadline of April 29 is fast approaching in the United Arab Emirates, with more than 90,000 taxpayers said to be affected.

The UAE's Cabinet has announced that wholesale trading in gold and diamonds will be made exempt from value-added tax.

The United Arab Emirates' Federal Tax Authority has issued guidance on obtaining refunds of value-added tax on new homes.