China's Government announced recently that a local insurance company had issued the country's first tax-deferred pension insurance policy, saying it marked the beginning of tax-deferred pension plans in China.

The OECD Global Forum has released eight peer review reports, for Brunei, Macau, Switzerland, Barbados, the Seychelles, Liberia, Peru, and Tunisia, on the jurisdictions' efforts to adopt and comply with international tax standards on transparency and the exchange of tax-related information on request.

Medications being used to treat COVID-19 are known to cause prolongation of the QTc in some people. The QTc is an indicator of the health of the heart's electrical recharging system.

Daily dose of aspirin provided no benefit to study participants at either preventing dementia or slowing cognitive decline, stated study published in

Heart and kidney patients should keep taking their drugs as inaccurate medical information has flooded social media and other channels, advised researchers.

An investigational drug vericiguat offers new hope for patients with worsening heart failure, reports a new study. Patients with worsening heart failure

Remdesivir is highly effective in stopping the replication of coronavirus, according to new research published in the iJournal of Biological Chemistry/i by scientists at the University of Alberta.

The pandemic has suddenly changed the medication needs of masses with a clear preference being shown for respiratory, anti-diabetic, cardiac therapies.

X-ray CT scanning helps to quantify the tiny microstructures of individual particles from the drug products used for asthma at the nano-scale, according

In heart disease patients, taking evolocumab in addition to a statin to achieve extremely low levels of cholesterol do not show higher incidence of neurocognitive

Most seriously ill COVID-19 patients will be treated with the antiviral medication Remdesivir in America the maker of the drug has announced, as tensions

Treating a breastfeeding parent with metformin, a common diabetes drug was found to provide male offspring lifelong protection against diabetes and obesity,

How the long-term use of proton pump inhibitors could increase the risk of developing dementia has been explained in a study published in the journal iAlzheimer's (and) Dementia/i.

The Italian Department of Finance has released new lists of government and private sector entities covered by Italy's split-payment mechanism.

Italy's tax agency on July 30, 2019, published a definitive version of the rules for the operation of the country's patent box regime.

On October 16, 2019, the Italian Council of Ministers approved the draft Budget law for 2020, which will prevent an automatic rise in the rate of value-added tax, and includes further measures designed to combat tax avoidance and evasion.

Tax officials in Armenia are to receive support from the Italian Revenue Agency to implement initiatives to tackle tax base erosion and profit shifting.

An invitation to submit comments with regards to the corporate tax exemption provided to ports in Italy was published in the January 10, 2020, issue of the Official Journal of the European Union.

On March 12, 2020, the Italian Revenue Agency announced the suspension of its audit activities in light of the COVID-19 outbreak.

The European Free Trade Association (Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland) and the Mercosur group of countries (Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay) concluded in substance a broad-based free trade agreement at the tenth round of negotiations from August 20 to 23, 2019.

On September 6, 2019, the Dutch Ministry of Finance announced proposals to reforms the tax rules for savings income.

On September 16, 2019, the United States Internal Revenue Service announced the mailing of a time-limited settlement offer for certain taxpayers under audit who participated in abusive micro-captive insurance transactions.

Representatives from US trade and industry associations have voiced concern about a digital services tax proposal floated during the recent Canadian election which they argue will "impose discriminatory requirements on the digital economy."

The Government of Ukraine has announced plans to introduce a special tax regime for certain intellectual property income.

On July 11, 2019, France's proposed digital services tax received parliamentary approval, following approval also from the Senate.

Mauritius has published in its Official Gazette legislation to enact measures announced in the territory's latest Budget, contained in The Finance (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2019.

On September 19, 2019, the lower house of the Austrian parliament approved the first part of a package of tax reforms that will introduce a digital tax as well as bring about changes to certain value-added tax rules.

On September 23, 2019, the French Government outlined a number of measures that will be included in the 2020 Finance Law to ensure the payment of value-added tax on items bought by French residents from online marketplaces.

On November 18, 2019, the Government of the Czech Republic announced that it has agreed on a draft law to introduce a tax on digital services, which will now be submitted to parliament.

Norway's Minister of Finance, Siv Jensen, has said that Norway will adopt a national digital services tax if negotiations towards an international digital tax framework fail to materialize this year.

France's Directorate General of Public Finance confirmed in a statement issued on February 10, 2020, that companies liable for the country's digital services tax can delay payment of upcoming installments of the tax until December 2020.

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

The finance ministers of France, Germany, Italy, and Spain have put their names to a statement calling for countries to reach an agreement on solving the tax challenges of the digital economy by the end of 2020.

Appleby, the offshore law firm, has spoken out against recent media coverage, which implies but does not allege that there is wrongdoing in the papers recently exposed that include information on its clients' tax affairs.

Malta's tonnage tax scheme has been conditionally approved for a period of 10 years by the European Commission under EU state aid rules.

Greens/EFA members of the European Parliament have called on the EU Code of Conduct Group to be more transparent about the criteria it used to create the EU's new blacklist of non-cooperative territories and how it will manage it going forward.

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 IMF has said that Malta should look for ways to diversify its tax base and strengthen tax revenues.

On February 14, 2019, the General Court of the European Union annulled the European Commission's decision that the Belgian tax regime relating to the excess profit of multinational companies is contrary to EU law.

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.

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.

On December 9, 2019, the Belgian Federal Public Finance Service reminded vendors that since December 1, 2019, they are required to round off cash payments to the nearest five cents.

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

The European Commission has launched infringement proceedings against 14 member states for failing to implement the so-called value-added tax quick fixes.

On April 3, 2020, the Belgian tax authority announced an increase in the credit available for timely advance tax payments to provide businesses and the self-employed a liquidity boost amid the COVID-19 crisis.

China intends to implement numerous changes to its trade tariffs from January 1, 2018, to ensure domestic businesses have access to inputs and equipment and to implement changes in prior international agreements.

Hong Kong's new Budget contained a number of new tax perks for individuals and measures to promote the adoption of environmentally friendly technologies, but few measures for businesses.

The Hong Kong Government has released a draft bill containing its 2017 proposal to provide an enhanced tax deduction for research and development expenditure.

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