Tax systems play an important role in encouraging investment in education and skills, and in ensuring that investments in skills deliver a healthy financial return for both students and governments, according to a new OECD report.

Almost 50 delegates from 14 countries and 7 organisations gathered in Tbilisi for the second regional meeting of the Inclusive Framework on Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) in the Eastern Europe and Central Asia region.

Approximately 300 participants, representing over 100 delegations from countries, jurisdictions and international organisations, as well as representatives from the business community and academia, gathered in Paris for the fourth meeting of the OECD Global Forum on VAT on 12-14 April 2017.

His Excellency Muadid Hareb Mughair Al-Khaili, Ambassador of the United Arab Emirates to France, signed the Multilateral Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters in the presence of the OECD Deputy Secretary-General, Rintaro Tamaki.

Today, another important step was taken to implement Country-by-Country Reporting in accordance with the BEPS Action 13 minimum standard, through activations of automatic exchange relationships under the Multilateral Competent Authority Agreement on the Exchange of CbC Reports.

As part of its ongoing efforts to maintain the integrity of the Common Reporting Standard (CRS), the OECD is today launching a disclosure facility on the AEOI portal which allows interested parties to report potential schemes to circumvent the CRS.Over 1800 bilateral exchange relationships in place for the exchange of CRS information.

Public comments are invited on a discussion draft which provides guidance on the implementation of the approach to pricing transfers of hard-to-value intangibles described in Chapter VI of the Transfer Pricing Guidelines.

Thailand has become the 98th jurisdiction to join the Inclusive Framework on BEPS (“IF”) and will participate on an equal footing with all other IF members at the next plenary meeting of the IF that will be held on 21-22 June 2017 in Noordwijk, the Netherlands.

The President of the Republic of Guatemala, Jimmy Morales, today deposited Guatemala’s instrument of ratification for the Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters ("the Convention").

Viet Nam has become the 100th jurisdiction to join the Inclusive Framework on BEPS ("IF") on an equal footing with all other IF members, as announced by Mr. DANG NGOC Minh (Deputy General Director of the General Department of Taxation - GDT) at the third plenary meeting of the IF held on 21-22 June 2017 in Noordwijk, the Netherlands.

Countries are making major progress towards the goal of creating a fairer and more effective international tax system, including increasing efforts to close down loopholes, improve transparency and ensure that multinational enterprises pay tax where they carry out their activities, according to a new OECD report.

On 23 May 2017, interested parties were invited to provide comments on a discussion draft that provides guidance on the implementation of the approach to pricing transfers of hard-to-value intangibles described in Chapter VI of the Transfer Pricing Guidelines.

Today, the OECD released a report on Neutralising the Effects of Branch Mismatch Arrangements (BEPS Action 2). This new report sets out recommendations for changes to domestic law that would bring the treatment of these branch mismatch structures into line with outcomes described in the 2015 Report.

Today at the OECD Headquarters in Paris, Nigeria signed two major multilateral instruments: the Multilateral Convention to Implement Tax Treaty Related Measures to Prevent Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (the MLI) and the CRS Multilateral Competent Authority Agreement‎ (the CRS MCAA). Nigeria becomes the 71st jurisdiction to sign the MLI and the 94th jurisdiction to join the CRS MCAA.

This paper examines the role of businesses in the tax system. In addition to being taxed directly, businesses act as withholding agents and remitters of tax on behalf of others. Yet the share of tax revenue that businesses remit to governments outside of direct tax liabilities is under-studied.

As part of continuing efforts to improve the international tax framework, the OECD has released the first analysis of individual country efforts to improve dispute resolution mechanisms.

The visit launched a joint induction programme to assist Ukraine in the implementation of the new international standards, namely the BEPS package, and the standards for exchange of information on request and for the automatic exchange of financial account information (the “Common Reporting Standard”).

Today, a further step was taken to implement Country-by-Country Reporting in accordance with the BEPS Action 13 minimum standard, through activations of automatic exchange relationships under the Multilateral Competent Authority Agreement on the Exchange of CbC Reports ("the CbC MCAA").

On 16 October 2017, an OECD delegation met in Tbilisi the Georgian First Deputy Minister and Head of Georgia Revenue Service Giorgi Tabuashvili and Deputy Minister Lasha Khutsishvili to discuss the progress of the country in implementing the new international standards to combat tax avoidance and tax evasion.

80 delegates from 20 countries and 11 organisations gathered in Bratislava for the third regional meeting of the Inclusive Framework on Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) in the Eastern Europe and Central Asia region. This meeting belongs to a new series of regional events that offer participants from different regions in the world the opportunity to provide their views and input into the Inclusive Framework on BEPS.

Every worker and employer is directly affected by taxes on wages. Taxation is one of the principal ways we finance public services. It also helps us achieve important social objectives, such as redistributing wealth to address inequalities. But as the OECD’s annual Taxing Wages points out, tax policies on labour income may have an impact on individuals’ behaviour with respect to the labour market or their consumption habits.

This guidance will support the consistent implementation of internationally agreed standards for the VAT treatment of cross-border trade and is of particular relevance given the rapid and ongoing digitalisation of the economy.

The OECD will hold a public consultation event on transfer pricing matters on 6-7 November at the OECD Conference Centre in Paris, France.

This paper asks whether free allocation of tradable emission permits in emissions trading systems can weaken emission abatement incentives for firms.

On 16 November 2017, an OECD delegation met Cameroon’s Minister of Finance Alamine Ousmane Mey in Yaounde to discuss progress being made in implementing the new international standards to combat tax avoidance and tax evasion.

Tax burdens and revenue collection across the OECD countries are reaching levels not seen since before the global financial crisis. Nevertheless, the tax mix varies enormously across the advanced economies.

One of the elements of the Action 14 minimum standard requires jurisdictions to seek to resolve mutual agreement procedure (“MAP”) cases within an average timeframe of 24 months. To monitor compliance with this element, members of the Inclusive Framework on BEPS have committed to report their MAP statistics pursuant to an agreed reporting framework.

On 28 November 2017, an OECD delegation met Bakhyt Sultanov, the Kazakhstan Minister of Finance, in Astana to launch an initiative to assist Kazakhstan in the implementation of the measures to tackle Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS).

Today the OECD is releasing a consultation document seeking stakeholder input on model mandatory disclosure rules. The model rules target promoters and service providers with a material involvement in the design, marketing or implementation of a CRS avoidance arrangements or offshore structure. They would require such intermediaries to disclose information on the scheme to their local tax authority.

As part of continuing efforts to improve the international tax framework and tax certainty, the OECD has released the second round of analyses of individual country efforts to improve dispute resolution mechanisms. These seven peer review reports represent the second round of stage 1 evaluations of how countries are implementing new minimum standards agreed in the OECD/G20 BEPS Project.

As part of continuing efforts to boost transparency by multinational enterprises (MNEs), Qatar has signed the Multilateral Competent Authority Agreement for Country-by-Country Reporting (CbC MCAA), bringing the total number of signatories to 68.

Today, Jersey deposited its instrument of ratification for the Multilateral Convention to Implement Tax Treaty Related Measures to Prevent Base Erosion and Profit Shifting ("multilateral convention") with the OECD. Subsequently, on 20 December, Curaçao joined the multilateral convention.

Today, a further important step was taken to implement Country-by-Country (CbC) Reporting in accordance with the BEPS Action 13 minimum standard, through activations of automatic exchange relationships under the Multilateral Competent Authority Agreement on the Exchange of CbC Reports ("the CbC MCAA").

On 11 December 2017, interested parties were invited to provide comments on a discussion draft on model mandatory disclosure rules. The model rules are intended to target promoters and service providers with a material involvement in the design, marketing or implementation of CRS avoidance arrangements or offshore structures.

A pilot of a new FTA programme for the multilateral risk assessment of large MNE groups was launched at an event today in Washington DC, hosted by the Internal Revenue Service.

Ministers and high-level officials from Barbados, Côte d’Ivoire, Jamaica, Malaysia, Panama and Tunisia have today signed the BEPS Multilateral Convention bringing the total number of signatories to 78. This Convention updates the existing network of bilateral tax treaties and reduces opportunities for tax avoidance by multinational enterprises.

The Inclusive Framework on BEPS has released additional guidance to give certainty to tax administrations and MNE Groups alike on the implementation of Country-by-Country (CbC) Reporting (BEPS Action 13). The Inclusive Framework also approved updates to the results for preferential regime reviews conducted by the Forum on Harmful Tax Practices (FHTP) in connection with BEPS Action 5.

Major international organizations -including the IMF, OECD, UN and World Bank Group- today called on governments from around the world to strengthen and increase the effectiveness of their tax systems to generate the domestic resources needed to meet the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and promote inclusive economic growth.

Public input is sought both to obtain further evidence on the misuse of CBI/RBI schemes and on effective ways for preventing abuse.

As the BEPS Action 14 continues its efforts to make dispute resolution more timely, effective and efficient, eight more peer review reports have been released today. These eight reports highlight how well jurisdictions are implementing the Action 14 minimum standard as agreed to in the OECD/G20 BEPS Project.

The Multilateral Convention to Implement Tax Treaty Related Measures to Prevent Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (the “Convention”) will enter into force on 1 July 2018, marking a significant step in international efforts to update the existing network of bilateral tax treaties and reduce opportunities for tax avoidance by multinational enterprises.

The Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes (the Global Forum) published today nine peer review reports assessing compliance with international standards on tax transparency.

Today, the OECD published a new set of bilateral exchange relationships established under the Common Reporting Standard Multilateral Competent Authority Agreement (CRS MCAA) which for the first time includes activations by Panama. The OECD also released the second edition of the Common Reporting Standard Implementation Handbook.

The consultation document assessed how these schemes are used in an attempt to circumvent the CRS; identified the types of schemes that present a high risk of abuse; reminded stakeholders of the importance of correctly applying relevant CRS due diligence procedures in order to help prevent such abuse; and explained next steps the OECD will undertake to further address the issue, assisted by public input.

Today’s revelations from the “Daphne Project” on the Maltese residence and citizenship by investment schemes underline the crucial importance of the the OECD’s work to ensure that the integrity of the OECD/G20 Common Reporting Standard (CRS) is preserved and that any circumvention is detected and addressed.

The United Arab Emirates has become the 116th jurisdiction to join the Inclusive Framework on BEPS (“IF”). The IF was established in January 2016, after the G20 Leaders urged the timely implementation of the BEPS package released in October 2015 and called on the OECD to develop a more inclusive framework with the involvement of interested non-G20 countries and jurisdictions, including developing economies.

Governments are continuing to make swift progress in bringing their preferential tax regimes in compliance with the OECD/G20 BEPS standards to improve the international tax framework. Today the Inclusive Framework released the updates to the results for preferential regime reviews conducted by the Forum on Harmful Tax Practices (FHTP) in connection with BEPS Action 5.

Today, in Ouagadougou, an OECD delegation met the Minister of Economy, Finance and Development of Burkina Faso, Mrs. Hadizatou Rosine Coulibaly, to discuss the progress made in the implementation of new international tax standards.

Kazakhstan today became the 102nd jurisdiction to sign the OECD's Multilateral Competent Authority Agreement for the Common Reporting Standard (CRS MCAA).

Ministers and senior officials from Kazakhstan, Peru and the United Arab Emirates have signed the BEPS Multilateral Convention bringing the total number of signatories to 81. This Convention updates the existing network of bilateral tax treaties and reduces opportunities for tax avoidance by multinational enterprises.