On 11-12 November 2015, the first Asia-Pacific Technical Meeting on BEPS discussed the outcomes of the BEPS project, and the challenges countries face in the region in implementing BEPS, and explored how countries in the region can engage in the implementation, on-going development and monitoring of the measures adopted, on an equal footing.

The leaders of the world’s 20 largest economies today endorsed overhauled global standards proposed by the OECD to crack down on tax evasion and reaffirmed the organisation’s central role in helping governments ensure strong, sustainable and inclusive growth.

As part of the OECD’s work to improve the timeliness of processing and completing mutual agreement procedure (MAP) cases under tax treaties and to enhance the transparency of the MAP process, the OECD makes available annual statistics on the MAP caseloads of all its member countries and of non-OECD economies that agree to provide such statistics.

On 1 December 2015 the OECD agreed on a common way forward in response to a request submitted by the European Commission pursuant to a mandate from EU Member States to include additional fields in the CRS XML Schema. This request was made further to the work of the European Commission and the EU Member States on the implementation of the Standard for Automatic Exchange of Financial Information in Tax Matters within the European Union.

The European Commission presented today a series of measures for a coordinated EU-wide response to corporate tax avoidance, notably through implementation of the global standards developed under the OECD/G20 Base Erosion and Profit Shifting Project. The Commission proposal would align tax laws in all 28 EU countries, in order to fight aggressive tax practices by multinational enterprises

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.

Public comments are invited on a discussion draft that includes proposals for changes to the OECD Model Tax Convention concerning the treaty residence of pension funds. Comments should be sent by 1 April 2016 at the latest.

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.

Despite a continuing slowdown in economic growth, tax revenues in Latin American and Caribbean countries rose slightly in 2014, as a proportion of national incomes, according to new data from the annual Revenue Statistics in Latin America and the Caribbean publication.

Mr. James Karanja has been appointed as Head of the joint OECD/UNDP Tax Inspectors Without Borders (TIWB) Initiative effective 11 April 2016. Mr. Karanja will lead the development of TIWB, which has been designed to support developing countries to build tax audit capacity.

In a continued effort to boost transparency in international tax matters, the OECD has today released its standardised electronic format for the exchange of Country-by-Country (CbC) Reports between jurisdictions – the CbC XML Schema – as well as the related User Guide.

Responses are invited to the questions included in a consultation document on issues and suggestions related to the impact of the Report on BEPS Action 6 on the tax treaty entitlement of non-CIV funds.

The “Panama Papers” revelations have shone the light on Panama’s culture and practice of secrecy. Panama is the last major holdout that continues to allow funds to be hidden offshore from tax and law enforcement authorities

The international community should call time on all remaining holdouts who have yet to implement internationally agreed tax transparency standards, OECD Secretary General Angel Gurría said in a new report to the G20.

The issue of illicit financial flows (IFFS) is at the forefront of the international agenda. Both the OECD and the High Level Panel have focused attention on this problem and have identified ways in which to tackle it.

The role of tax administrations in implementing the OECD/G20 work on the international tax agenda will be the focus of the 10th Plenary meeting of the OECD Forum on Tax Administration (FTA) to be held in Beijing, People's Republic of China, on 11-13 May 2016.

Public comments are invited on technical issues identified in a request for input related to the development of a multilateral instrument to implement the tax-treaty related BEPS measures. Comments should be sent by 30 June 2016 at the latest.

Mr Jefferson VanderWolk has been appointed Head of the Tax Treaty, Transfer Pricing & Financial Transactions Division in the Centre for Tax Policy and Administration. He will take up his duties in early July 2016.

On 23 May 2016, the OECD Council approved the amendments to the Transfer Pricing Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises and Tax Administrations ("Transfer Pricing Guidelines"), as set out in the 2015 BEPS Report on Actions 8-10 "Aligning Transfer Pricing Outcomes with Value Creation" and the 2015 BEPS Report on Action 13 "Transfer Pricing Documentation and Country-by-Country Reporting".

Representatives of countries and jurisdictions worldwide will gather in Kyoto, Japan on 30 June and 1 July for a special meeting of the OECD Committee on Fiscal Affairs organised to take forward the OECD/G20 Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) Project.

Today the OECD has taken a new step in its continuing efforts to boost transparency in international tax matters with the release of guidance on the implementation of country-by-country (CbC) reporting.

Interested parties are invited to review the conforming changes to Chapter IX of the Transfer Pricing Guidelines, "Transfer Pricing Aspects of Business Restructurings."

The OECD has released a discussion draft which deals with the design and operation of the group ratio rule under BEPS Action 4 and the standardised IT-format for the exchange of tax rulings between jurisdictions under BEPS Action 5. It also announced that Angola has become the 83rd member of the Inclusive Framework on BEPS.

The OECD has today released its standardised IT-format for providing structured feedback on exchanged Common Reporting Standard information – the CRS Status Message XML Schema – as well as the related User Guide.

With a number of important recent and upcoming developments in the OECD's international tax work, the OECD's Centre for Tax Policy and Administration (CTPA) gave the latest tax update.

Following a request of the Italian Minister of Economy and Finance Pier Carlo Padoan, the OECD has carried out a review of the organisational structure and institutional arrangements of Italy’s tax administration, with a focus on the Agenzia delle Entrate and the Agenzia delle Dogane e dei Monopoli. The review also highlights certain critical issues related to tax compliance and collection which emerged in the course of the work.

This report consists of two parts. Part I is a report by the OECD Secretary-General regarding (A) the OECD/G20 Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) Project; (B) Tax transparency; (C) Tax policy tools to support sustainable and inclusive growth; and (D) Tax and development. Part II is an updated Progress Report to the G20 by the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes.

Interested parties are invited to provide comments on a discussion draft which deals approaches to address BEPS involving interest in the banking and insurance sectors under Action 4 (Interest deductions and other financial payments) of the BEPS Action Plan.

Interested parties are invited to provide comments on a discussion draft which deals with branch mismatch structures under Action 2 (Neutralising the Effects of Hybrid Mismatch Arrangements) of the BEPS Action Plan.

On 4 July 2016, interested parties were invited to review the conforming amendments to Chapter IX of the OECD Transfer Pricing Guidelines, "Transfer Pricing Aspects of Business Restructurings". The OECD is grateful to the commentators for their input and now publishes the comments received.

This report consists of two parts. Part I is a report by the OECD Secretary-General regarding (A) the G20/OECD Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) Project; (B) Tax transparency; (C) Tax policy tools to support sustainable and inclusive growth; and (D) Tax and development. Part II is a Progress Report to the G20 by the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes.

With a number of important recent and upcoming developments in the OECD's international tax work, the OECD's Centre for Tax Policy and Administration (CTPA) gave the latest tax update.

Taxes on the labour income of the average worker in Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) countries totalled 21.7% of total labour costs in 2013, one-third lower than in OECD countries, where the average was 35.9%, according to the first edition of Taxing Wages in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Current carbon prices are falling short of the levels needed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions driving climate change, but even moderate price increases could have a significant impact, according to new OECD research.

This report consists of two parts. Part I is a Progress Report to the G20 by the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes. Part II is an update report by the OECD Secretary-General regarding tax transparency, with a focus on beneficial ownership information.

The OECD received a strong endorsement from both the G20 Leaders and Finance Ministers to work on solutions to support certainty in the tax system with the aim to promote investment, trade and balanced growth. As part of a wider project, the OECD launches a Business Survey to invite businesses and other stakeholders to contribute their views on tax certainty.

Today the OECD released key documents, approved by the Inclusive Framework on BEPS, that will form the basis of the Mutual Agreement Procedure (MAP) peer review and monitoring process under Action 14 of the BEPS Action Plan.

On 20 October, the OECD released the key documents that will form the basis of the Mutual Agreement Procedure (MAP) peer review and monitoring process under Action 14 of the BEPS Action Plan. In accordance with the Assessment Methodology, the reviews will be conducted in batches, with the first batch commencing in December 2016.

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.

Fifty delegates from sixteen countries, four international organisations, business and civil society gathered in Manila for the first regional meeting of the Inclusive Framework on Base Erosion and Profit shifting (BEPS) in the Asia-Pacific region after the launch of the Inclusive Framework in Kyoto on 30 June-1st July 2016.

The Inclusive Framework on BEPS has released two new documents to support the global implementation of Country-by-Country (CbC) reporting (BEPS Action 13).

The OECD’s work to advance tax certainty specifically includes work to improve the timeliness of processing and completing mutual agreement procedure (MAP) cases under tax treaties and to enhance the transparency of the MAP process. As part of that work, the OECD makes available annual statistics on the MAP caseloads of all its member countries and of non-OECD economies that agree to provide such statistics.

With a number of important recent and upcoming developments in the OECD's international tax work, we invite you to join senior members from the OECD's Centre for Tax Policy and Administration (CTPA) for the latest tax update.

More than 60 delegates from 14 countries gathered in Vilnius for the first regional meeting of the Inclusive Framework on BEPS in the region. This meeting was the last of a series of regional events in 2016 intended to offer countries in different regions of the world the opportunity to feed their views and provide their input into the Inclusive Framework on BEPS.

Today, the OECD released an updated version of the BEPS Action 4 Report (Limiting Base Erosion Involving Interest Deductions and Other Financial Payments), which includes further guidance on two areas: the design and operation of the group ratio rule, and approaches to deal with risks posed by the banking and insurance sectors.

The OECD is now gathering input for the Stage 1 peer reviews of Austria, France, Germany, Italy, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg and Sweden, and invites taxpayers to submit input on specific issues relating to access to MAP, clarity and availability of MAP guidance and the timely implementation of MAP agreements for each of these jurisdictions using the taxpayer input questionnaire.

Today the OECD released key documents, approved by the Inclusive Framework on BEPS, which will form the basis of the peer review of Action 13 Country-by-Country Reporting and for the peer review of the Action 5 transparency framework.

Six treaty partners of Hong Kong (China) signed a competent authority agreement with Hong Kong (China) bringing the total number of CAAs to nine. Panama deposited its instrument of ratification for the Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters.

This report consists of two parts. Part I is an update report by the OECD Secretary-General regarding the latest developments in the international tax agenda, including (Annex 1) the joint OECD/IMF Report on Tax Certainty. Part II is a Progress Report to the G20 by the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes.

With a number of important recent and upcoming developments in the OECD's international tax work, we invite you to join senior members from the OECD's Centre for Tax Policy and Administration (CTPA) for the latest tax update.