Viet Nam has become the 100th jurisdiction to join the Inclusive Framework on BEPS ("IF") on an equal footing with all other IF members, as announced by Mr. DANG NGOC Minh (Deputy General Director of the General Department of Taxation - GDT) at the third plenary meeting of the IF held on 21-22 June 2017 in Noordwijk, the Netherlands.

Public comments are invited on two discussion drafts: Attribution of Profits to Permanent Establishments, which deals with work in relation to Action 7 of the BEPS Action Plan and the Revised Guidance on Profit Splits, which deals with work in relation to Actions 8-10 of the BEPS Action Plan.

Tax evasion continues to challenge governments in developing and developed countries alike, depriving them of resources that would otherwise be available to support sustainable development through investments in infrastructure, health and other common goods.

Today at the OECD Headquarters in Paris, Mahess Rawoteea of the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development of Mauritius, signed the Multilateral Convention to Implement Tax Treaty Related Measures to Prevent Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (the MLI) in the presence of Douglas Frantz, OECD Deputy Secretary-General.

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. Part II is a Progress Report to the G20 by the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes.

On 23 May 2017, interested parties were invited to provide comments on a discussion draft that provides guidance on the implementation of the approach to pricing transfers of hard-to-value intangibles described in Chapter VI of the Transfer Pricing Guidelines.

Fifty delegates representing 10 countries gathered in Cotonou (Benin) on 3-5 July 2017 for the second regional meeting of the Inclusive Framework on Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) for French speaking countries. These regional meetings offer participants from around the world the opportunity to provide their views and input to the Inclusive Framework on BEPS.

The OECD Transfer Pricing Guidelines provide guidance on the application of the “arm’s length principle”, which represents the international consensus on the valuation, for income tax purposes, of cross-border transactions between associated enterprises.

The OECD has just released the draft contents of the 2017 update to the OECD Model Tax Convention. Comments are requested at this time only with respect to certain parts of the 2017 update that have not previously been released for comments.

Today at the OECD Headquarters in Paris, Alamine Ousmane Mey, Minister of Finances of Cameroon, signed the Multilateral Convention to Implement Tax Treaty Related Measures to Prevent Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (the MLI) in the presence of Pascal Saint-Amans, Director of the OECD Centre for Tax for Tax Policy and Administration.

The fourth annual edition of Revenue Statistics in Asian Countries covers seven countries, including Kazakhstan for the first time. It shows that the tax-to-GDP ratio in all these countries are lower than the OECD average of 34.3% in 2015, which highlights that scope remains for increasing tax mobilisation, especially in Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Malaysia and the Philippines to achieve sustainable growth.

Today, the OECD released a report on Neutralising the Effects of Branch Mismatch Arrangements (BEPS Action 2). This new report sets out recommendations for changes to domestic law that would bring the treatment of these branch mismatch structures into line with outcomes described in the 2015 Report.

The Platform for Collaboration on Tax – a joint initiative of the IMF, OECD, UN and World Bank Group – is seeking public feedback on a draft toolkit designed to help developing countries tackle the complexities of taxing offshore indirect transfers of assets, a practice by which multinational corporations try to minimise their tax liability.

Costa Rica has made significant economic and social progress over the last decades. Real GDP per capita continues to increase at rates which outperform many other Latin American and OECD countries. But while living standards and well-being have increased, tax reforms are essential now to ensure the sustainable development of Costa Rica’s economy, according to a new OECD report.

Public comments received on the draft contents of the 2017 Update to the OECD Model Tax Convention

Today at the OECD Headquarters in Paris, Nigeria signed two major multilateral instruments: the Multilateral Convention to Implement Tax Treaty Related Measures to Prevent Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (the MLI) and the CRS Multilateral Competent Authority Agreement‎ (the CRS MCAA). Nigeria becomes the 71st jurisdiction to sign the MLI and the 94th jurisdiction to join the CRS MCAA.

The Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes (the Global Forum) published today the first 10 outcomes of a new and enhanced peer review process aimed at assessing compliance with international standards for the exchange of information on request between tax authorities.

Greenland, Cambodia, Madagascar and Haiti have joined the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes as its 143rd, 144th, 145th and 146th members.

At present, 102 jurisdictions have publicly committed to implement the Common Reporting Standard, with 49 being committed to start exchanges this month and a further 53 taking up exchanges in September 2018.

This paper examines the role of businesses in the tax system. In addition to being taxed directly, businesses act as withholding agents and remitters of tax on behalf of others. Yet the share of tax revenue that businesses remit to governments outside of direct tax liabilities is under-studied.

As part of the ongoing work of the Task Force on the Digital Economy (TFDE), the OECD is seeking public comments on key issues identified in a request for input related to the tax challenges raised by digitalisation and the potential options to address these challenges.

Tax administrations are playing a critical role as governments start implementing new international measures to counter offshore evasion and combat tax avoidance by multinational enterprises.

As part of continuing efforts to improve the international tax framework, the OECD has released the first analysis of individual country efforts to improve dispute resolution mechanisms.

The visit launched a joint induction programme to assist Ukraine in the implementation of the new international standards, namely the BEPS package, and the standards for exchange of information on request and for the automatic exchange of financial account information (the “Common Reporting Standard”).

The OECD is publishing the comments received on a discussion draft on the Attribution of Profits to Permanent Establishments (BEPS Action 7) and on a second discussion draft on the Revised Guidance on Profit Splits (BEPS Actions 8-10).

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").

The mobilisation of domestic resources is improving steadily in African countries, according to new data from Revenue Statistics in Africa 2017 released today in Addis Ababa at a meeting of tax and finance officials from 21 African countries hosted by the Department of Economic Affairs of the African Union Commission (AUC).

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.

On 16 October 2017, an OECD delegation met in Tbilisi the Georgian First Deputy Minister and Head of Georgia Revenue Service Giorgi Tabuashvili and Deputy Minister Lasha Khutsishvili to discuss the progress of the country in implementing the new international standards to combat tax avoidance and tax evasion.

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.

This guidance will support the consistent implementation of internationally agreed standards for the VAT treatment of cross-border trade and is of particular relevance given the rapid and ongoing digitalisation of the economy.

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.

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.

On 16 November 2017, an OECD delegation met Cameroon’s Minister of Finance Alamine Ousmane Mey in Yaounde to discuss progress being made in implementing the new international standards to combat tax avoidance and tax evasion.

In the aftermath of the release of the “Paradise Papers”, 200 delegates from more than 90 delegations met in Yaoundé, Cameroon for the 10th meeting of the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes which now includes 147 countries and jurisdictions.

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.

On 21 November 2017 the OECD Council approved the contents of the 2017 update to the OECD Model Tax Convention. The update will be incorporated in a revised version of the Model Tax Convention that will be published in the next few months.

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.

On 28 November 2017, an OECD delegation met Bakhyt Sultanov, the Kazakhstan Minister of Finance, in Astana to launch an initiative to assist Kazakhstan in the implementation of the measures to tackle Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS).

On August 1st 2017, interested parties were invited to provide comments on the discussion draft of a toolkit on the Taxation of Offshore Indirect Transfers. The Platform for Collaboration on Tax is grateful to the commentators for their input and now publishes the public comments received during the consultation period.

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.

The latest edition of the OECD Model Tax Convention, an international instrument which serves as a model for countries concluding bilateral tax conventions, has been released today, incorporating significant changes developed under the OECD/G20 project to address base erosion and profit (BEPS).

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, Jersey deposited its instrument of ratification for the Multilateral Convention to Implement Tax Treaty Related Measures to Prevent Base Erosion and Profit Shifting ("multilateral convention") with the OECD. Subsequently, on 20 December, Curaçao joined the multilateral convention.