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.

South Korea's Government has announced that it will provide tax relief to small and medium size businesses that have been affected by Japan's decision to remove 159 South Korea products from its export "white list."

Japan's sales tax rose from eight to 10 percent on October 1, 2019, following two previous delays to the hike.

On January 8, 2020, Japan and Morocco signed a double taxation agreement.

The OECD on August 13, 2019, released follow-up reports for Belgium, Canada, the Netherlands, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States on their efforts to implement BEPS recommendations on dispute resolution.

The UK tax agency has announced that it has scheduled two new webinars to support the construction industry to come to terms with the new VAT reverse charge being introduced on building and construction services from October 1.

HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has automatically registered 95,000 businesses for its simplified import procedures, allowing most UK traders up to six months to pay import duties and submit customs declarations, if the UK leaves the EU without a deal on October 31, 2019.

Airbnb has disclosed that it has been contacted by HM Revenue and Customs regarding the application of tax laws or regulations impacting the company's business, adding that some matters "may result in litigation".

On November 5, 2019, the UK Government released the synthesized text of the Luxembourg-UK double tax agreement, as modified by the BEPS multilateral instrument.

New Zealand is the easiest place in the world to do business, according to the World Bank's new Doing Business 2020 report, which looks at the simplicity of setting up, operating, and paying taxes in 190 territories around the world.

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has announced that his party intends to cancel a planned cut to the corporate tax rate, which was scheduled for April 2020.

The main UK opposition party Labour has set out its plans for tax reform, in a manifesto released on November 21.

The Conservative Party in the UK has won an outright majority in elections held on December 12, 2019.

The UK Government on January 10, 2020, released the synthesized text of the 1987 Belgium-UK double tax agreement, as modified by the BEPS multilateral instrument.

The Federal Association of German Industry, the BDI, has urged the German government to forge ahead with corporate tax reforms, warning that Germany's corporate tax regime is becoming increasingly out of step with the country's competitors.

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.

The UK's National Audit Office has called for a more comprehensive review of the 1,190 tax relief measures available for taxpayers, which are estimated to have cost the UK revenues worth GBP155bn (USD201.7bn) in 2018-19.

The UK Government has announced that the expansion of the off-payroll working rules, known as IR35, will be delayed until April 2021, in light of the COVID-19 outbreak.

The OECD has launched a review of 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.

On November 22, 2019, the United States Internal Revenue Service issued final regulations confirming that individuals taking advantage of the increased gift and estate tax exclusion amounts in effect from 2018 to 2025 will not be adversely impacted after 2025 when the exclusion amount is scheduled to drop to pre-2018 levels.

Canada, Mexico, and the US have signed an agreement on amendments to their proposed new trade pact.

The Prime Minister of St Kitts and Nevis and Minister of Finance, Timothy Harris, delivered a "tax-free Budget" on December 12, 2019.

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 January 9, 2019, the United States Internal Revenue Service announced the launch of a new Gig Economy Tax Center, which is intended to help taxpayers meet their tax obligations through more streamlined information.

On January 8, 2020, a bill was introduced in the Senate of the US state of Maryland that would impose a tax on revenues associated with digital advertising derived in the state.

On January 16, 2020, the US Senate voted to approve the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement, which will replace the existing North American Free Trade Agreement.

Democrats in the United States Senate have introduced a bill that would block proposals to introduce a "high-tax exemption" to the Global Intangible Low-Tax Income regime.

The EU has added the Cayman Islands, Palau, Panama, and the Seychelles to its list of non-cooperative tax jurisdictions, bringing the total tally to 12 from 8.

On March 9, 2020, United States President Donald Trump revealed that the Administration would begin discussions with Congress on potential tax measures to ease the impact of the coronavirus outbreak, including a payroll tax cut.

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.

On March 27, 2020, the United States Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service issued a notice which extends COVID-19-related filing and payment relief to federal gift and generation-skipping taxes.

On March 31, 2020, the United States Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service launched the Employee Retention Credit scheme, designed to encourage businesses to keep employees on their payroll amid the COVID-19 crisis.

EU customs controls are not being applied effectively, an EU audit has found, with importers able to take advantage of loopholes to reduce or evade their duty liabilities.

The European Commission has warned taxpayers in Europe of letters being sent by fraudsters bearing its name and demanding the payment of tax not due.

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 Spanish tax authority has published its annual tax and customs control plan for 2018, which details the tax compliance and enforcement measures that it intends to undertake in the coming year.

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 OECD on March 12 released a third round of peer reviews of countries' efforts to implement the BEPS minimum standard on improving tax dispute resolution mechanisms.

A new tax treaty between Finland and Spain, which will broaden the Finnish Government's taxing rights with respect to pension income, will be effective from 2019, according to the Finnish Ministry of Finance.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has pledged to reform Spain's corporate tax rules so that companies pay an effective rate no lower than 15 percent.

The Spanish Government will proceed with a proposal to introduce a digital services tax along similar lines to the European Commission's proposed interim digital tax.

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.

For the first time, the Commission has presented a comprehensive report on investor citizenship and residence schemes operated by a number of EU member states.

In a letter published on April 29, 2019, the United States National Foreign Trade Council urged the Senate to approve several pending double tax avoidance treaties.