On September 17, 2019, Dutch State Secretary for Finance Menno Snel presented the Government's 2020 Tax Plan to the House of Representatives. It includes revised plans for corporate tax cuts.

The European Council has approved new rules for the exchange of VAT payment data relating to cross-border e-commerce transactions.

A delegation from the European Parliament's PANA Committee will travel to Switzerland to discuss the efforts being taken to combat money laundering, terrorist financing, and tax offences.

The European Commission has sent letters of formal notice to Cyprus, Greece, and Malta for not levying the correct amount of value-added tax on yachts.

The number of advance pricing agreements between EU member states and companies rose by 64 percent from 2015 to 2016, according to research by Eurodad.

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.

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.

Nine EU member states have called on the European Commission to draw up proposals for an EU-wide aviation tax.

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

During a January 7, 2018, debate in the UK House of Commons, UK lawmakers discussed the country's plans to leave the EU, its customs union, and value-added tax area.

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 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.

Liechtenstein and Switzerland have agreed a new cooperation pact in the area of value-added tax administration and enforcement.

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

According to French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire, France and the United States will in the next two weeks attempt to reach a compromise over their ongoing dispute regarding France's new digital services tax.

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 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.

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 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.

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.

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 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.

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.

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.

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

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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'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 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 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.

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

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 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.

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 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.

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.

On June 25, 2019, the United States Senate Foreign Relations Committee approved amendments to four double tax avoidance agreements which have been pending in the Senate for several years.

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.

Value-added tax avoidance will be considered by a new EU anti-tax avoidance committee, the creation of which is expected to be endorsed at an EU parliamentary plenary on March 1, 2018.

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.

Officials from the Abu Dhabi Global Market, a free zone in the United Arab Emirates, and the Abu Dhabi Exchange recently visited Shanghai, China, to meet with representatives of key Chinese financial authorities and institutions.

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.