In a boost for international efforts to strengthen co-operation against offshore tax evasion, seven new countries have joined the agreement to exchange information automatically under the OECD/G20 standard.

On 15 May 2015, interested parties were invited to comment on a revised discussion draft on Action 7 (Prevent the Artificial Avoidance of PE Status) of the BEPS Action Plan.

The European Commission presented today an Action Plan to fundamentally reform corporate taxation in the EU. The Action Plan sets out a series of initiatives to tackle tax avoidance, secure sustainable revenues and strengthen the Single Market for businesses.

On 22 May 2015, interested parties were invited to comment on a revised discussion draft which includes proposals on how to deal with the follow-up work on Action 6 (Prevent treaty abuse) of the BEPS Action Plan.

On 4 June 2015, interested parties were invited to comment on a discussion draft on Action 8 (Hard-to-value intangibles) of the BEPS Action Plan.

Proposals to increase environmentally related taxes are often challenged on competitiveness grounds. The concern is that value creation in certain sectors might decline domestically if a country introduces environmentally related taxes unilaterally. This paper provides evidence on the short-term competitiveness impacts of the German electricity tax introduced unilaterally in 1999.

In line with the international movement towards more transparency and exchange of information, Mauritius has taken a significant step to enhance its exchange of information legal framework and has signed the Multilateral Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters.

Governments are under-utilising taxation as a tool to curb the environmental consequences of energy use, foregoing revenue and weakening their attack on the principal source of greenhouse gas emissions responsible for climate change and air pollution, according to new OECD analysis.

Proposals to increase environmentally related taxes are often challenged on competitiveness grounds. The concern is that value creation in certain sectors might decline domestically if a country introduces environmentally related taxes unilaterally. This paper provides evidence on the short-term competitiveness impacts of the German electricity tax introduced unilaterally in 1999.

Concerns around potential losses of competitiveness as a result of unilateral action on carbon pricing are often central for policy makers contemplating the introduction of such instruments. This paper is a review of literature on ex post empirical evaluations of the impacts of carbon prices on indicators of competitiveness as employed in the literature, including employment, output or exports, at different levels of aggregation.

Governments should set prudent debt targets to ensure that public finances serve to promote economic growth and stability, according to new OECD research.

Meeting budgetary targets is hard enough in any country, but for developing countries struggling to lift their economies, it can seem a near impossible task. However, governments and local authorities everywhere in the world have a duty to provide public and social services for their citizens, and infrastructure that will attract investors. Tax revenues are therefore vital for meeting public demands as well as development aspirations.

The OECD and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) have launched a new initiative to help developing countries bolster domestic revenues by strengthening their tax audit capacities.

The OECD is holding three tax events on the side-lines of the 3rd International Conference on Financing for Development in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Taxpayer education is the bridge linking tax administration and citizens and a key tool to transform tax culture. Covering innovative strategies in 28 countries, this publication offers ideas and inspiration for taxpayer education, literacy and outreach. The presentation ceremony, which took place in Bolivia, was attended by representatives of EuropeAid, EUROsociAL, Bolivia's National Tax Service and the OECD.

The OECD today releases three new reports to help jurisdictions and financial institutions implement the global Standard for automatic exchange of financial account information.

Increasing tax revenues and ensuring sustainable domestic resource mobilisation will be critical as emerging Asian economies seek to boost the provision of public goods and services and improve economic growth and living standards.

Vast amounts are lost to illicit financial flows, including tax evasion, money laundering, bribery and corruption. These crimes threaten the strategic, political and economic interests of both developed and developing countries. In a world of limited resources and increasing complexity, it is essential for government authorities to work closely together in a “whole of government” approach to best address these challenges.

Healthcare costs are rising so fast in advanced economies that they will become unaffordable by mid-century without reforms, according to a new OECD report.

OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurría today called on all countries to fully engage with the new Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and said advanced and emerging economies had a particular responsibility to translate the global goals into national policy and to support developing countries in doing the same.

This event will review progress on tax and development made in 2015, including in relation to the UN Sustainable Development Goals, the Financing for Development Conference, the Addis Tax Initiative, the OECD/G20 Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) Project, Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes and Tax Inspectors Without Borders (TIWB).

G20 finance ministers endorsed the final package of measures for a comprehensive, coherent and co-ordinated reform of the international tax rules during a meeting on 8 October, in Lima, Peru.

This stocktaking report profiles the tax treatment of funded private pension plans across all OECD and EU countries. The information refers to 2015 or the latest year with available data and covers all types of funded private pension plans in each country.

Major implementation milestones are being met by members of the world’s leading forum on tax transparency as the international community continues to move ahead towards greater tax transparency. The imminent shift to the automatic exchange of information will send a strong warning to tax evaders.

Uganda today signed the Multilateral Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters. The Convention provides for all forms of administrative assistance in tax matters: exchange of information on request, spontaneous exchange, automatic exchange, tax examinations abroad, simultaneous tax examinations and assistance in tax collection. It guarantees extensive safeguards for the protection of taxpayers’ rights.

In-depth discussions took place this week as the international community continues to make progress on the international tax agenda. Officials from more than 100 countries drawing from tax authorities, ministries of finance, development agencies, as well as regional and international organisations, business and civil society came together in a series of meetings hosted by the OECD.

Governments have taken an important step towards ensuring that consumption taxes on cross-border transactions are effectively paid in the jurisdiction where products are consumed, while minimizing the risks that uncoordinated tax rules distort international trade.

Asian representatives from Ministries of Finance and Tax administrations gathered in Seoul, Korea on 14-15 October 2015 to discuss the framework for harmonising their revenue statistics.

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.

Israel signed today the Multilateral Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters, making it the 91st jurisdiction to join the world’s leading instrument for boosting transparency and combating offshore tax evasion.

Niue today signed the Multilateral Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters. The Convention provides for all forms of administrative assistance in tax matters: exchange of information on request, spontaneous exchange, automatic exchange, tax examinations abroad, simultaneous tax examinations and assistance in tax collection. It guarantees extensive safeguards for the protection of taxpayers’ rights.

Corporate tax revenues have been falling across OECD countries since the global economic crisis, putting greater pressure on individual taxpayers to ensure that governments meet financing requirements, according to new data from the OECD’s annual Revenue Statistics publication.

OECD urges efforts to better price carbon as new analysis finds that 90% of CO2-emissions are priced below EUR 30 per tonne, a low-end estimate of climate damage, and 60% are not priced at all. Effective Carbon Rates in the OECD and Selected Partner Economies calculates effective carbon rates (ECR) on CO2-emissions from energy use for 41 countries which together use 80% of global emissions.

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

Senegal today signed the Multilateral Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters. Senegal is the 11th country of the African continent to sign the Convention and the 93rd jurisdiction to join it. Simultaneously to signing the Convention, Senegal today also became the 32nd signatory of Multilateral Competent Authority Agreement for the automatic exchange of Country-by-Country reports (CbC MCAA).

Kenya today signed the Multilateral Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters. Kenya is the 12th African country to sign the Convention and the 94th jurisdiction to join it.

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.

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.

The world’s leading forum on tax transparency published 10 new peer review reports today, pointing to ever-increasing compliance with the internationally-recognised standards to curb tax evasion through the exchange of information.

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.

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.

Tax revenues in African countries are rising as a proportion of national incomes, according to the inaugural edition of Revenue Statistics in Africa. In 2014, the eight countries covered by the report - Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Mauritius, Morocco, Rwanda, Senegal, South Africa and Tunisia - reported tax revenues as a percentage of GDP ranging from 16.1% to 31.3%.

On 29/02/2016, interested parties were invited to comment on a discussion draft othat includes proposals for changes to the OECD Model Tax Convention concerning the treaty residence of pension funds. The OECD is grateful to the commentators for their input and now publishes the comments received.

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.

On 24 March 2016, comments were invited to the questions included in a consultation document on issues and suggestions on the tax treaty entitlement of non-CIV (Collective Investment Vehicle) funds.

The OECD and the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes announced today that Bahrain, Lebanon, Nauru, Panama and Vanuatu have now committed to share financial account information automatically with other countries.

If there is a silver lining to the 2008 financial crisis, it is that it was a catalyst for the unprecedented progress we have made in building robust international tax standards for the interconnected global economy of the 21st century.

Jamaica and Uruguay today signed the Multilateral Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters and Brazil deposited its instrument of ratification of the Convention on the occasion of the launch of the OECD’s Latin American and Caribbean Regional Programme and the OECD Ministerial Council Meeting.