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.

The CREDAF Working group on BEPS held its second physical meeting in Paris on 2 November 2015, following the one that took place in Kinshasa on 27 May 2015. Twenty five participants gathered to discuss the work to be performed within the implementation phase of the OECD/G20 BEPS Project.

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.

On 11-12 November 2015, the first Asia-Pacific Technical Meeting on BEPS discussed the outcomes of the BEPS project, and the challenges countries face in the region in implementing BEPS, and explored how countries in the region can engage in the implementation, on-going development and monitoring of the measures adopted, on an equal footing.

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.

As part of the OECD’s work to improve the timeliness of processing and completing mutual agreement procedure (MAP) cases under tax treaties and to enhance the transparency of the MAP process, the OECD makes available annual statistics on the MAP caseloads of all its member countries and of non-OECD economies that agree to provide such statistics.

On 17-18 November 2015, a new regional meeting as well as a governmental workshop on BEPS was held for the Latin America and the Caribbean region to discuss the outcomes of the BEPS Project, and the ways that the countries can explore to be involved on an equal footing in the implementation and the monitoring phase of the measures adopted.

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.

On 1 December 2015 the OECD agreed on a common way forward in response to a request submitted by the European Commission pursuant to a mandate from EU Member States to include additional fields in the CRS XML Schema. This request was made further to the work of the European Commission and the EU Member States on the implementation of the Standard for Automatic Exchange of Financial Information in Tax Matters within the European Union.

On 17 December 2015 Greenland signed the Multilateral Competent Authority Agreement‎, re-confirming its commitment to implement automatic exchange of financial account information in time to exchange in 2017.

Malaysia today signed the Multilateral Competent Authority Agreement‎, re-confirming its commitment to implement automatic exchange of financial account information in time to commence exchanges in 2018.

As part of continuing efforts to boost transparency by multinational enterprises (MNEs), 31 countries signed today the Multilateral Competent Authority Agreement (MCAA) for the automatic exchange of Country-by-Country reports. The signing ceremony marks an important milestone towards implementation of the OECD/G20 BEPS Project and a significant increase in cross-border cooperation on tax matters.

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 22-23 February 2016, a regional network meeting on the implementation of the BEPS package was held in Dakar (Senegal), by the OECD in partnership with the CREDAF (Centre de Rencontres et d'Etudes des Dirigeants des Administrations Fiscales).

Public comments are invited on a discussion draft that includes proposals for changes to the OECD Model Tax Convention concerning the treaty residence of pension funds. Comments should be sent by 1 April 2016 at the latest.

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.

In a continued effort to boost transparency in international tax matters, the OECD has today released its standardised electronic format for the exchange of Country-by-Country (CbC) Reports between jurisdictions – the CbC XML Schema – as well as the related User Guide.

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%.

The “Panama Papers” revelations have shone the light on Panama’s culture and practice of secrecy. Panama is the last major holdout that continues to allow funds to be hidden offshore from tax and law enforcement authorities

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.

Government officials from around the world have called on the OECD to convene a special project meeting of the Joint International Tax Shelter Information and Collaboration (JITSIC) Network to explore possibilities of co-operation and information-sharing, identify tax compliance risks and agree collaborative action, in light of the “Panama Papers” revelations.

A special project meeting of the Joint International Tax Shelter Information and Collaboration (JITSIC) Network took place at the OECD in Paris on Wednesday 13 April, bringing together senior tax administration officials from countries worldwide to discuss opportunities for obtaining data, co-operation and information-sharing in light of the “Panama Papers” revelations.

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 main international organisations working on taxation – the IMF, OECD, UN and WBG – have announced today further details on how they will act together through a Platform for Collaboration on Tax as a response to the growing importance of taxation in the international financing for development debate to achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

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.

Bermuda became the 33rd signatory of the Multilateral Competent Authority Agreement for the automatic exchange of Country-by-Country reports (CbC MCAA), which is based on Article 6 of the Multilateral Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters and puts in place the automatic exchange framework for exchanging Country-by-Country Reports, as contemplated by BEPS Action 13.

The role of tax administrations in implementing the OECD/G20 work on the international tax agenda will be the focus of the 10th Plenary meeting of the OECD Forum on Tax Administration (FTA) to be held in Beijing, People's Republic of China, on 11-13 May 2016.

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.

As part of continuing efforts to boost transparency by multinational enterprises (MNEs), Canada, Iceland, India, Israel, New Zealand and the People’s Republic of China signed today the Multilateral Competent Authority agreement for the automatic exchange of Country-by-Country reports (“CbC MCAA”), bringing the total number of signatories to 39 countries. The signing ceremony took place in Beijing, China.

Delivering on the OECD/G20 international tax agenda, through implementation of the Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) Project and the Common Reporting Standard (CRS) for the automatic exchange of financial account information, took centre stage when Heads of Tax Administration met on 11-13 May in Beijing, China.

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.

Public comments are invited on technical issues identified in a request for input related to the development of a multilateral instrument to implement the tax-treaty related BEPS measures. Comments should be sent by 30 June 2016 at the latest.

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.

Mr Jefferson VanderWolk has been appointed Head of the Tax Treaty, Transfer Pricing & Financial Transactions Division in the Centre for Tax Policy and Administration. He will take up his duties in early July 2016.

On 23 May 2016, the OECD Council approved the amendments to the Transfer Pricing Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises and Tax Administrations ("Transfer Pricing Guidelines"), as set out in the 2015 BEPS Report on Actions 8-10 "Aligning Transfer Pricing Outcomes with Value Creation" and the 2015 BEPS Report on Action 13 "Transfer Pricing Documentation and Country-by-Country Reporting".