Malta has reiterated its commitment to fighting aggressive tax planning, joining other EU member states who have unanimously agreed to amend the EU's tax information sharing law, the Directive on Administrative Cooperation.

Malta's Commissioner for Revenue on January 2, 2020, issued a single set of guidelines on the automatic exchange of financial account information.

Last year, the tax burden in OECD countries reached its highest level recorded, at 34.2 percent of gross domestic product, up 20 basis points on 2016, largely due to increasing taxes on personal consumption and companies.

On May 2, 2019, Belgium's finance ministry confirmed that the Tax-on-web portal has been opened for personal and corporate income tax returns for the 2019 fiscal year.

Belgium's tax agency has announced that its MyMinfin portal is now open for multinational taxpayers seeking to correct errors in filed country-by-country reports.

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.

German Finance Minister Olaf Scholz has presented a final proposal for a European Union financial transactions tax to the 10 member states participating in the initiative.

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

Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz has said that Austria does not agree with new German proposals for a European financial transactions tax.

On February 19, 2020, German Finance Minister Olaf Scholz issued a statement to say that he remains "committed" to the introduction of a financial transactions tax at European Union level along the same lines as that proposed by the German Government last month, despite opposition from within the EU, notably from Austria.

On March 24, 2020, the Belgian tax authority announced value-added tax will not be levied on medical equipment donated to hospitals and healthcare facilities.

Hong Kong on February 2, 2018, ratified an Ordinance to enable the territory to soon join the OECD's Multilateral Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters and thereby more simply and more broadly agree to exchange tax information with other countries' tax authorities.

Hong Kong's Government says it is studying the feasibility of introducing a tax on vacant "first-hand" private residential properties.

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.

The EU has removed two countries from its list of non-cooperative tax jurisdictions and found a further five to have met their commitments on tax cooperation.

The Swiss Federal Council has launched a consultation on proposals to close what it says is a loophole in the withholding tax system, in a bid to strengthen the country's debt market.

The EU has announced the removal of eight jurisdictions from its tax blacklist.

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.

The EU has removed three countries from its list of non-cooperative tax jurisdictions and added a further three.

The European Commission is to take steps to ensure that EU external development and investment funds cannot be channelled or transited through entities in countries included on the EU's "blacklist" of non-cooperative tax jurisdictions.

The EU on May 25 removed the Bahamas and Saint Kitts and Nevis from its list of non-cooperative tax jurisdictions.

Oman's Government has released a statement confirming that it is preparing to introduce VAT legislation into parliament to implement the levy without delay.

The EU has removed two countries from its list of non-cooperative tax jurisdictions and found a further five to have met their commitments on tax cooperation.

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.

In an e-brief issued on December 12, 2017, the Irish tax agency announced that maximum withholding tax rates on cross-border passive income have been lowered under the Ireland-Chile double tax agreement.

Ministers from 11 countries have announced their agreement upon the "core elements" of a new Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership.

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.

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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.

New Zealand has enacted The COVID-19 Response (Taxation and Social Assistance Urgent Measures) Bill to support businesses and individuals cope with the COVID-19 outbreak.

The Swiss Federal Council has launched a consultation on proposals to close what it says is a loophole in the withholding tax system, in a bid to strengthen the country's debt market.

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.

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 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.

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

The United States Senate has approved protocols to four existing bilateral double tax avoidance treaties that have been pending in the chamber for as much as a decade.

Australia is to require businesses seeking to tender for significant federal government procurement contracts to demonstrate their record of tax compliance.

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.

Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand (CA ANZ) has given a guarded welcome to the New Zealand Government's response to the recommendations of the Tax Working Group.

The pace of tax reform has slowed across most leading economies, a new report from the OECD says, calling for bolder tax reforms to address future challenges.

On February 19, 2020, the United States Internal Revenue Service announced that the leaders of the Joint Chiefs of Global Tax Enforcement recently gathered in Sydney, Australia, to review their work and to set priorities for the years ahead.

Apple, the world's largest taxpayer, has released a statement seeking to debunk claims in media about its tax payments around the world, following coverage in recent days about it seeking tax mitigation arrangements in Jersey due to international tax changes in Ireland affecting its existing tax arrangements.