The advisory board tasked with reporting on the state of Switzerland's financial center has recommended that the country overhaul its withholding tax system to improve its capital market offering.

On January 22, 2020, French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire confirmed that France will suspend collection of its digital services tax this year to prevent the United States from applying retaliatory tariffs on a range of French goods.

Switzerland has said that the withdrawal of the UK from the EU on January 31 will not change the relationship between Switzerland and the UK in the near future.

Higher tax receipts helped Switzerland to another surplus in 2019, with withholding tax and direct federal tax performing particularly well.

The Swiss Government has announced that it will waive interest on late payments of tax, to allow companies to delay their tax payments.

The Swiss Federal Council has launched a consultation on proposals to close what it says is a loophole in the withholding tax system, in a bid to strengthen the country's debt market.

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.

The OECD's Global Forum has found Switzerland largely compliant with the international standards on transparency and the exchange of information upon request.

The Swiss Federal Council has announced that it will expand a system of guarantees for SMEs to provide support for start-ups during the coronavirus pandemic.

The United Arab Emirates' Federal Tax Authority has released a statement confirming that all purchases from online retailers are subject to the same value-added tax rules as for purchases from brick and mortar stores – that they should generally be subject to the headline five percent value-added tax rate.

The UAE's Federal Tax Authority (FTA) has changed the deadline for firms preparing to file a VAT return for the first time.

The EU has announced the removal of eight jurisdictions from its tax blacklist.

The UAE's Federal Tax Authority has newly launched a number of VAT compliance tools and further confirmed how the value-added tax regime, introduced at the start of the year, should operate.

Businesses registered for the United Arab Emirates's value-added tax need to complete a four-step online procedure to file their tax returns, the Federal Tax Authority has said.

Bahrain has committed to pushing towards the introduction of the Gulf Cooperation Council's value-added tax framework by the end of the year.

The UAE's Federal Tax Authority has issued guidance on whether a supplier or consumer is liable for VAT on goods or services for contracts negotiated before VAT was introduced.

The UAE's Federal Tax Authority has announced that it will waive late registration penalties for businesses that have not yet registered for VAT, on the condition that they do so by April 30 of this year.

The EU has removed three countries from its list of non-cooperative tax jurisdictions and added a further three.

In a new report, the OECD has drawn attention to criminal activity in free trade zones, which typically offer tax privileges and lighter regulation, highlighting that they may be unintentionally fostering growth in counterfeit goods.

The European Commission is to take steps to ensure that EU external development and investment funds cannot be channelled or transited through entities in countries included on the EU's "blacklist" of non-cooperative tax jurisdictions.

The first quarterly value-added tax filing deadline of April 29 is fast approaching in the United Arab Emirates, with more than 90,000 taxpayers said to be affected.

The UAE's Cabinet has announced that wholesale trading in gold and diamonds will be made exempt from value-added tax.

The United Arab Emirates' Federal Tax Authority has issued guidance on obtaining refunds of value-added tax on new homes.

The EU on May 25 removed the Bahamas and Saint Kitts and Nevis from its list of non-cooperative tax jurisdictions.

The UAE has recently passed legislation to introduce new country-by-country reporting requirements and new economic substance requirements.

Oman's Government has released a statement confirming that it is preparing to introduce VAT legislation into parliament to implement the levy without delay.

The EU has removed two countries from its list of non-cooperative tax jurisdictions and found a further five to have met their commitments on tax cooperation.

The OECD is seeking input from taxpayers on dispute resolution mechanisms in place in Aruba, Bahrain, Barbados, Gibraltar, Greenland, Kazakhstan, Oman, Qatar, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Thailand, Trinidad and Tobago, the United Arab Emirates, and Vietnam, as part of follow-up work under BEPS Action Plan Action 14.

Citizens from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) will newly be able to claim refunds for the VAT they incur when building their own home.

The United Arab Emirates's amended excise tax regime entered into force on December 1, and now covers sweetened drinks and electronic smoking devices and liquids.

The United Arab Emirates' Federal Tax Authority has announced the launch of a new service on its website to simplify the process for taxpayers of recovering value-added tax incurred in building their own new homes.

The Japanese and Danish governments announced on October 11 that they had signed a new agreement for the avoidance of double taxation in Tokyo.

Japan's proposed sales tax hike is expected to go ahead as planned in 2019 after a landslide win by incumbent Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

In introducing its new 2017 International Tax Competitiveness Index, the Tax Foundation, a US tax policy think tank, notes the importance of simple but effective tax regimes and highlights New Zealand as the country that has implemented particularly positive reforms.

Hong Kong has signed a new free trade agreement with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, which is expected to become effective from January 2019.

The OECD is seeking taxpayers' input on the mutual agreement procedure frameworks in place in the fourth batch of countries that will now be peer reviewed under the base erosion and profit shifting project: Australia, Ireland, Israel, Japan, Malta, Mexico, New Zealand, and Portugal.

The EU's new free trade agreement with Japan, finalized by negotiators from both sides on December 8, 2017, has been described as the European bloc's most comprehensive yet.

In an e-brief issued on December 12, 2017, the Irish tax agency announced that maximum withholding tax rates on cross-border passive income have been lowered under the Ireland-Chile double tax agreement.

The National Taxpayers Union has called upon the US Department of Commerce to halt its investigation into steel and aluminum imports, claiming that imposing tariffs would be "an economically inefficient solution to a narrow problem."

Japan's ruling Liberal Democrat Party has approved a tax reform package that will cut corporate rates for companies who increase employee wages.

Japan's Ministry of Finance has reported the signing of a double tax agreement with Iceland in Reykjavik.

Ministers from 11 countries have announced their agreement upon the "core elements" of a new Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership.

Japan's Cabinet recently approved tax reform bills, which have now been introduced into the country's parliament for debate.

Australia's free trade agreements are being widely used by Australian businesses, according to a new report commissioned by the Government.

The fifth round of tariff cuts under the Japan-Australia Economic Partnership Agreement have entered into force.

The US Internal Revenue Services has released its annual report on the number of advance pricing agreements and applications and made during the 2017 calendar year.

Following its passage through Japan's parliament, the Diet, measures in Japan's 2018 tax reform package became law on April 1, 2018.

Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary, Yoshihide Suga, has announced a task force will be set up to consider ways to mitigate the negative impact of the planned 2019 consumption tax rise.

The EU and Japan have signed an Economic Partnership Agreement that will remove the majority of the EUR1bn (USD1.2bn) of duties paid annually by EU companies exporting to Japan.

The OECD has reported on the progress achieved to improve tax transparency internationally under the new Common Reporting Standard (CRS), ahead of the meeting of G20 finance ministers in Fukuoka, Japan.