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.

The Chinese tax administration has reported that businesses have saved CNY2 trillion (USD317.8bn) following the replacement of business tax with value-added tax, beginning in 2012.

On February 3, 2018, China's State Administration of Taxation set out new rules on the disallowance of tax treaty benefits where an entity fails to demonstrate it is the beneficial owner of Chinese assets from which passive income is derived.

About 260,000 businesses with operations in China will begin to be assessed for liability to the country's new environmental tax starting next month.

The EU is to apply existing anti-dumping measures on Chinese imports of seamless pipes and tubes of stainless steel for another five years.

China plans to actively expand imports and open up to foreign investment by reducing tariffs and taxes, according to a work report released by the Government ahead of the annual parliamentary session.

Chinese authorities are working on a long-awaited property tax to cool the country's overheated property market, according to a senior government official.

Denmark was found to have the heaviest burden of taxation as a percentage of the economy in a new study by accountancy firm UHY.

HM Revenue and Customs has updated its value-added tax guidance for online marketplaces and for suppliers using them to sell to UK consumers.

The first returns under China's new environmental tax are due online by April 1, 2018.

China's new Finance Minister, Liu Kun, has announced plans to reform the nation's taxation system, including value-added tax rate reductions.

China's State Council has announced a cut in value added tax rates as part of a CNY400bn (USD63bn) tax reduction package to stimulate growth.

The OECD has published new transfer pricing country profiles for Australia, China, Estonia, France, Georgia, Hungary, India, Israel, Liechtenstein, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Sweden, and Uruguay, bringing the number of such overviews published by the OECD to 44.

Macau's Chief Executive has issued an order authorizing signature of the OECD Multilateral Competent Authority Agreement on Automatic Exchange of Financial Account Information.

The tax agencies of China and Kazakhstan, with involvement also from the OECD, hosted a three-day tax conference to discuss the provision of capacity building support from China for those countries that will be involved in China's Belt and Road Initiative. It was attended by more than 250 delegates from 49 tax administrations, four international organizations, and five academic institutions.

Governments raised about USD33bn in carbon pricing revenue last year, a 50 percent increase from 2016, according to a new update by the World Bank.

China's Government announced recently that a local insurance company had issued the country's first tax-deferred pension insurance policy, saying it marked the beginning of tax-deferred pension plans in China.

Three years on from the commitments made at the 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP21) in Paris, the overwhelming majority of governments have not taken the necessary action to contain growing risks to the climate, says the OECD. It said, with emissions on the rise again, OECD governments need to get serious about shifting their economies to a low-carbon model and stop investing in carbon-intensive infrastructure.

The OECD has requested stakeholders' input on the dispute resolution processes in place in Andorra, Anguilla, Bahamas, Bermuda, the British Virgin Islands, the Cayman Islands, the Faroe Islands, Macau (China), Morocco, and Tunisia.

The OECD recently released the seventh round of stage one peer review reports, assessing eight jurisdictions' efforts to implement the BEPS Action 14 minimum standard on tax dispute resolution.

The OECD Global Forum has released eight peer review reports, for Brunei, Macau, Switzerland, Barbados, the Seychelles, Liberia, Peru, and Tunisia, on the jurisdictions' efforts to adopt and comply with international tax standards on transparency and the exchange of tax-related information on request.

On October 23, 2018, the European Commission issued a request to the Italian Government that it revise its draft budgetary plan for 2019 because it breaches European Union fiscal rules.

The Italian Department of Finance has released new lists of government and private sector entities covered by Italy's split-payment mechanism.

Italy's tax agency on July 30, 2019, published a definitive version of the rules for the operation of the country's patent box regime.

Milan's Public Prosecutor's Office has launched an investigation into whether Netflix owes tax in Italy, Italian daily Corriere Della Sera reported October 3, 2019.

On October 16, 2019, the Italian Council of Ministers approved the draft Budget law for 2020, which will prevent an automatic rise in the rate of value-added tax, and includes further measures designed to combat tax avoidance and evasion.

Tax officials in Armenia are to receive support from the Italian Revenue Agency to implement initiatives to tackle tax base erosion and profit shifting.

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

An invitation to submit comments with regards to the corporate tax exemption provided to ports in Italy was published in the January 10, 2020, issue of the Official Journal of the European Union.

On January 31, 2020, the Italian Revenue Agency released instructions on how companies, individuals, corporate groups, and partnerships can comply with their tax return filing obligations during 2020.

On February 10, 2020, the Italian tax agency commenced a short consultation on the rules surrounding the patent box self-assessment regime.

On March 4, 2020, the Italian tax authority published English language versions of the annual value-added tax form for 2020, together with instructions.

On March 12, 2020, the Italian Revenue Agency announced the suspension of its audit activities in light of the COVID-19 outbreak.

New Zealand's opposition National Party has released its plans for tax reform, announcing it would review whether to lower the corporate tax rate.

The European Free Trade Association (Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland) and the Mercosur group of countries (Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay) concluded in substance a broad-based free trade agreement at the tenth round of negotiations from August 20 to 23, 2019.

On September 6, 2019, the Dutch Ministry of Finance announced proposals to reforms the tax rules for savings income.

Following the release of the 2020 Budget, the Indonesian Government has explained in greater detail its plans to reform the tax code to foster increased investment by foreign and domestic businesses.

The Philippines' House of Representatives on September 9, 2019, approved two bills to overhaul the rates in place on financial services and passive income.

On September 16, 2019, the United States Internal Revenue Service announced the mailing of a time-limited settlement offer for certain taxpayers under audit who participated in abusive micro-captive insurance transactions.

On September 16, 2019, the German conservative parties, the Christian Democrats and the Christian Social Union, published a report calling for reform of environmental taxes and levies to help Germany achieve its emissions reductions targets.

The New Zealand Government has announced that it will adopt two tax incentives proposed by the Tax Working Group: a deduction for "feasibility expenditure" for businesses, and relaxed loss continuity rules.

Algeria has released its draft Budget Law for 2020, including proposals for a number of tax reliefs.

The OECD has announced that the next Tax Talks webcast will be held on October 9. It will update stakeholders on its work to develop new international tax rules.

New Zealand has released a new consultation on proposals to further clarify the deductibility of holding costs (rates, interest, insurance, etc.) where land that is subject to tax on sale is used privately while it is held.

Caribbean territory Trinidad and Tobago announced changes to corporate tax breaks in its 2020 Budget, in which it committed to clear the almost TTD4.5bn (USD664m) in unpaid VAT refunds.

On October 9, 2019, the British Virgin Islands International Tax Authority has finalized rules governing the application of the territory's new economic substance requirements, which became effective from January 1, 2019.

On November 1, 2019, the presidential campaign of United States Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) published plans for a system of universal Medicare that will be partially funded by tax increases on large corporations and wealthy individuals, as well as by stricter anti-tax avoidance rules.

On October 23, 2019, Slovenia's National Assembly adopted a package of tax measures which includes changes to corporate, personal, and capital gains taxes.

Representatives from US trade and industry associations have voiced concern about a digital services tax proposal floated during the recent Canadian election which they argue will "impose discriminatory requirements on the digital economy."

The Korean Government has announced that the 2019 Tax Revision Bill was enacted on January 6, 2020, with a number of new measures added to the existing proposals.