On December 17, 2019, the United States House of Representatives passed a year-end spending package, which includes legislation extending numerous expired and expiring tax provisions, and repealing certain taxes introduced to help fund the Obamacare health care reforms.

On March 25, 2020, the United States Senate overwhelmingly approved the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, which represents the third package of financial aid measures to businesses and individuals affected by the coronavirus crisis and which includes numerous tax provisions to support businesses.

In a recent update, the Internal Revenue Service has announced that it has agreed a bilateral competent authority agreement with authorities in Spain to exchange country-by-country reports.

The OECD has recently launched a new program – the International Compliance Assurance Programme – being spearhead by the Forum on Tax Administration that is aimed at providing assurance to multinationals with regards to their transfer pricing affairs.

The UK tax agency has confirmed that it is investigating around 170 professional soccer players' tax affairs and around 20 football clubs, focusing on the taxation of image rights.

An agreement has been reached between the European Union and the United Kingdom on Brexit, which, if approved by UK lawmakers, would establish a transition period, until the end of 2020, during which EU law would continue to apply to the UK.

The European Commission is taking Spain to the Court of Justice over the imposition of "disproportionate" sanctions for failure to report assets held abroad.

The Spanish Socialist Party and the Podemos movement, which will form the next governing coalition, has released their policy document, which includes plans for a corporate minimum tax, among other tax measures.

The Canadian Government has said that it will review its tax ruling process and voluntary disclosures program as part of its response to recommendations made last year by a parliamentary committee.

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission has highlighted the significant impact that recent accounting standard changes will have for financial reports that must be prepared for the year to December 31, 2018, and second quarter reports.

Australia has enacted new integrity measures included in the Treasury Laws Amendment (2018 Superannuation Measures No. 1) Bill 2019 affecting self-managed super funds.

Tax agencies from 31 countries discussed the ways they are using data analysis tools to improve tax enforcement and administration, at the first meeting of the IOTA Forum on Tax Debt Management, held in Prague, Czech Republic, On October 1-3, 2019.

Jersey has signed a double taxation agreement with the Republic of Cyprus. This is the island's twelfth agreement that meets the international standard for such agreements.

The Swiss Federal Department of Finance has launched a consultation on the introduction of the automatic exchange of information in tax matters with a series of other countries.

The new Austrian coalition government, consisting of the conservative People's Party and the Green Party, has agreed on a program for government, which includes several significant tax measures.

On April 4, 2020, Malta released payroll tax-related guidance for employers on the Government's responses to the COVID-19 epidemic.

The Chilean President Sebastian Pinera has announced a number of tax relief measures for businesses and individuals impacted by COVID-19.

The Irish Revenue has announced that it will allow access to the Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme for certain employers who missed the March 15 payroll deadline.

On August 19, 2019, the Office of the United States Trade Representative held an off-camera public hearing on France's recently introduced digital services tax, attended by three major technology firms.

The United States may impose additional duties of up to 100 percent on certain French products in retaliation for France's digital services tax, which a newly published report by the US Trade Representative has concluded discriminates against certain US companies.

German Finance Minister Olaf Scholz has said he is confident that an agreement can be reached on a European Union financial transactions tax.

Hunger and malnutrition affect many children under five years of age. However, mapping childhood malnutrition and implementing new strategies to fight

Senior citizens can preserve muscle mass by consuming more protein at breakfast or lunchtime. The body's mechanisms for producing new muscle require

Coronavirus pH varies from 5.5 to 8.5 is a myth, as the World Health Organization (WHO) hasn't released any data on the coronavirus' pH level. However,

An active ingredient found in fruit peels and some herbs can halt and reduce further damage to neurons in multiple sclerosis (MS), reports a new study.

Supplementation of micronutrients and omega-3 fatty acids is a safe, effective, and low-cost strategy for an optimal immune function to fight against

Pelvic examination in adolescent girls does not help the physician's to diagnose certain sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). In fact it narrows

Only half of the people diagnosed with HIV in southern Mozambique enroll in medical care while others do not initiate the next step of HIV care, reports a new study.

Poor quality of a man's sperm is linked to multiple miscarriages in women, reveals a recent research. The sperm quality of fifty men whose partners suffered

A review for primary care physicians published in iCMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal)/i, aims to provide care to the growing number of identified transgenders among adolescents.

The age at when the puberty hits a child is based on the gap between the parents' and child's ultimate height and not genetics, find researchers. The

Skin vaccination generates protective CD8 T-cells that are recruited to the genital tissues. Study conducted by King's College London scientists has revealed

HIV patients have higher chances of acquiring specific age-related diseases such as the increased occurrence of heart disease, COPD, and bone fractures.

bAge-related macular degeneration is linked to chronic periodontitis/b, recent research presented at the 47th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Dental Research (AADR) reports.

Protruding teeth in kids are more prone to injuries and long-term consequences. Therefore, regular dental check-ups, especially for kids, are necessary to protect their dental health.

Type 2 diabetics who were in poor health were mostly continuing their insulin intake after age 75 compared to their counterparts in better health./br According

In identifying people at high risk of developing Type 2 diabetes, dental teams were found to play an important role, suggested new research. The

Colombo, December 10, 2013. At the request of the Colombo Municipal Council (CMC), the Central Environmental Authority (CEA), in collaboration with the International Water Management Institute (IWMI), organized a stakeholder meeting to discuss improvements that can be made to the management of municipal waste in the City of Colombo. The meeting was held at the […]

Targets that promote efficient, nationally and locally appropriate water use will be key to achieving the SDGs.

Study finds irrigation more common on city farms than rural farms, intensifying water demands in sprawling urban zones.

Experts from across Asia gathered to discuss how the next generation of satellite based technologies could help improve disaster preparedness and response at a three-day meeting in Mount Lavinia.

A new agreement between the Ministry of Agriculture and IWMI will help develop initiatives to improve waste-derived compost using nutrient enrichment and pelletizing technologies.

World Water Day dialogue stresses need for public and private sectors to work together for water-secure growth.

Researchers analyzed data with geographic information systems (GIS) rather than depending on case study results, as in previous studies.

Potential mechanism underlying the reason for inflammation, blood vessel damage and heart disease due to long-term exposure to noise was identified by

Coal use is down dramatically in the United States and the European Union, but rising natural gas and oil use in 2019 increased the world's carbon dioxide emission.

Breathing polluted air during early childhood can cause structural brain changes later at age 12, reports a new study. A new study suggests that significant

Kids from low-income homes whose mothers reported regular use of toxic chemicals such as household cleaners were more likely to show language delays by

CoQ10 (coenzyme Q10), a substance naturally produced by the human body and found in beef and fish, can reverse the harmful effects produced by BPA, according

To better understand the risk factors and the effects of drought in the region, IWMI conducted a survey of 400 commercial fruit farms in Jordan, one the most water-scarce countries in the world.