The Forum on Tax Administration (FTA) is the leading international body concerned with tax administration. The FTA, which brings together Tax Commissioners from 50 advanced and emerging tax administrations (including OECD and G20 countries), held its Plenary meeting in Oslo on 27-29 September.

Today, a further step was taken to implement Country-by-Country 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").

Governments have dismantled, or are in the process of amending, nearly 100 preferential tax regimes as part of the OECD/G20 BEPS standards to improve the international tax framework, according to a progress report released today.

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.

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.

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.

More than 200 global tax and economic crime experts have identified key areas for international action following the Fifth OECD Forum on Tax and Crime, in London. In a week dominated by media coverage of offshore issues, the Forum brought experts on tax, customs, anti-corruption, anti-money laundering, policing, and prosecution together to agree priorities for action.

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?

This paper asks whether free allocation of tradable emission permits in emissions trading systems can weaken emission abatement incentives for firms.

The Inclusive Framework on BEPS has released additional guidance to give certainty to tax administrations and MNE Groups alike on the implementation of Country-by-Country (CbC) Reporting (BEPS Action 13).

As part of continuing efforts to improve tax transparency and the international tax framework, the OECD has released the first analysis of individual countries' progress in spontaneously exchanging information on tax rulings in accordance with Action 5 of the BEPS package of measures released in October 2015.

Today the OECD is releasing a consultation document seeking stakeholder input on model mandatory disclosure rules. The model rules target promoters and service providers with a material involvement in the design, marketing or implementation of a CRS avoidance arrangements or offshore structure. They would require such intermediaries to disclose information on the scheme to their local tax authority.

As part of continuing efforts to improve the international tax framework and tax certainty, the OECD has released the second round of analyses of individual country efforts to improve dispute resolution mechanisms. These seven peer review reports represent the second round of stage 1 evaluations of how countries are implementing new minimum standards agreed in the OECD/G20 BEPS Project.

Today, at the OECD Headquarters in Paris, The Hon. Kevin Peter Turnquest, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance of the Bahamas signed the Multilateral Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters (“the Convention”) in the presence of OECD Secretary General Angel Gurria.

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.

The Common Reporting Standard (CRS), which is the basis for the automatic annual exchange of information on offshore financial accounts to the tax authorities of the residence country of account holders. At present, over 100 jurisdictions have publicly committed to implement the CRS, with half of them having started the exchange of CRS information in September and a further 53 set to follow in 2018.

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.

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.

Taxes are effective at cutting harmful emissions from energy use, but governments could make better use of them. Greater reliance on energy taxation is needed to strengthen efforts to tackle the principal source of both greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution, according to a new OECD report.

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.

Public input is sought both to obtain further evidence on the misuse of CBI/RBI schemes and on effective ways for preventing abuse.

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.

As the BEPS Action 14 continues its efforts to make dispute resolution more timely, effective and efficient, eight more peer review reports have been released today. These eight reports highlight how well jurisdictions are implementing the Action 14 minimum standard as agreed to in the OECD/G20 BEPS Project.

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.

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.

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 taxation of personal savings and wealth varies widely, offering governments significant scope for tax reforms that simultaneously improve both the efficiency and fairness of their tax systems, according to two new OECD reports.

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.

The OECD has released the first peer reviews of the Country-by-Country (CbC) reporting initiative, demonstrating strong progress toward the imminent implementation of a key element in continuing efforts to improve taxation of multinational enterprises (MNEs) worldwide.

This report presents a tax reform package that prepares Slovenia for the ageing of its population. Slovenia faces a window of opportunity for a comprehensive tax reform that rebalances the tax mix away from employee social security contributions (SSCs) towards the personal income tax (PIT).

Today, in Ouagadougou, an OECD delegation met the Minister of Economy, Finance and Development of Burkina Faso, Mrs. Hadizatou Rosine Coulibaly, to discuss the progress made in the implementation of new international tax standards.

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.

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.

Ministers and senior officials from Kazakhstan, Peru and the United Arab Emirates have signed the BEPS Multilateral Convention bringing the total number of signatories to 81. This Convention updates the existing network of bilateral tax treaties and reduces opportunities for tax avoidance by multinational enterprises.

Peru today signed a landmark treaty to improve the international tax system. The signing of the BEPS Multilateral Convention came during the fifth plenary meeting of the Inclusive Framework on BEPS held in the Lima on 27-28 June 2018.

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.

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.

On 4 July 2018, in Abidjan, an OECD delegation met with the State Secretariat to the Prime Minister in charge of Budget and State Portfolio to discuss the progress made in the implementation of new international standards to combat tax fraud and tax evasion.