Mrs Rosa Hernández de Grullón, Ambassador of the Dominican Republic to France and Mr John Petersen, Advisor to the Minister of Finance of Nauru, signed the Multilateral Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters in the presence of Deputy Secretary General Rintaro Tamaki, therewith becoming the 97th and 98th jurisdictions to join the Convention.

The four organisations, working jointly as the members of the new Platform for Collaboration on Tax have developed a series of recommendations and enabling actions which are laid out in this draft summary document. The Platform organisations seek comments from interested stakeholders on these recommendations by 8 July 2016.

On 31 May 2016, public comments were 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. This document compiles the comments received in response to that request for input.

Public comments are invited on discussion drafts on "Attribution of Profits to Permanent Establishments" which deals with work in relation to BEPS Action 7 and on the "Revised Guidance on Profit Splits" which deals with work in related to BEPS Actions 8-10 of the OECD/G20 BEPS Action Plan.

The OECD has today released its standardised IT-format for providing structured feedback on exchanged Common Reporting Standard information – the CRS Status Message XML Schema – as well as the related User Guide.

Israel’s growing population and rising incomes have seen consumption increase substantially, bringing with it considerable pressure on the environment. One of the main environmental pressures is from the ever-increasing transport activity, especially the use of private vehicles. Although travelling in a private vehicle brings benefits to the individual using it, this entails costs to society as a whole.

Following a request of the Italian Minister of Economy and Finance Pier Carlo Padoan, the OECD has carried out a review of the organisational structure and institutional arrangements of Italy’s tax administration, with a focus on the Agenzia delle Entrate and the Agenzia delle Dogane e dei Monopoli. The review also highlights certain critical issues related to tax compliance and collection which emerged in the course of the work.

This report consists of two parts. Part I is a report by the OECD Secretary-General regarding (A) the OECD/G20 Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) Project; (B) Tax transparency; (C) Tax policy tools to support sustainable and inclusive growth; and (D) Tax and development. Part II is an updated Progress Report to the G20 by the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes.

Interested parties are invited to provide comments on a discussion draft which deals approaches to address BEPS involving interest in the banking and insurance sectors under Action 4 (Interest deductions and other financial payments) of the BEPS Action Plan.

Liechtenstein today deposited its instrument of ratification for the Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters ("the Convention"). By doing so, Liechtenstein underlines its commitment to fighting tax evasion and avoidance and takes another important step in implementing the Standard for Automatic Exchange of Financial Account Information in Tax Matters developed by the OECD and G20 countries.

Interested parties are invited to provide comments on a discussion draft which deals with branch mismatch structures under Action 2 (Neutralising the Effects of Hybrid Mismatch Arrangements) of the BEPS Action Plan.

OECD publishes comments received on the discussion draft on the elements of the design and operation of the group ratio rule under Action 4.

Public comments have been received on the BEPS discussion drafts on the Attribution of Profits to Permanent Establishments and the Revised Guidance on Profit Splits.

Fiscal incentives, including tax policies, should be directed at specific barriers, impediments or synergies to facilitate the desired level of investment in R&D and innovations. Without careful design, policies can have unintended consequences such as favouring incumbent firms, encouraging small firms to undertake less efficient activities, or creating arbitrage and rent-seeking activity.

Today, at the OECD Headquarters in Paris, Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar, Minister of Finance of Pakistan, signed the Multilateral Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters.

The OECD publishes comments received on the discussion draft on approaches to address BEPS involving interest in the banking and insurance sectors under Action 4.

Across the OECD, GDP per capita is converging. In contrast, regional disparities – or differences in GDP per capita across jurisdictions – are rising, mainly as a result of widening productivity differences. Fiscal decentralisation could help reduce them again. According to new OECD research, assigning more ownsource revenue to sub-national governments dampens regional GDP disparities and underpins regional convergence.

The OECD publishes the comments received on the discussion draft on branch mismatch structures under Action 2 of the BEPS Action Plan.

Switzerland, represented by Ambassador Ulrich Lehner , today deposited its instrument of ratification for the multilateral Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters ("the Convention") in the presence of OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurría.

This report consists of two parts. Part I is a Progress Report to the G20 by the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes. Part II is an update report by the OECD Secretary-General regarding tax transparency, with a focus on beneficial ownership information.

This OECD expert workshop will bring together experts to assess available data and methodologies to calculate both Total Factor Productivity and Environmentally Adjusted Total Factor Productivity for the aggregate agricultural sector.

As part of continuing efforts to boost transparency by multinational enterprises (MNEs), Brazil, Guernsey, Jersey, the Isle of Man and Latvia signed today the Multilateral Competent Authority Agreement (MCAA) for the automatic exchange of Country-by-Country reports, bringing the total number of signatories to 49.

Today at the OECD Headquarters in Paris, Mr. Andrew Haigh, Collector of Inland Revenue of the Cook Islands, signed the Multilateral Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters.

This paper explores the practical challenges tax policy analysts face when trying to apply differential taxation to “normal” and “excess” returns. The distinction between these two elements is being increasingly used in tax policy. The problem is that there is no clear definition for a “normal” return.

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.

Using fiscal levers to escape the low-growth trap

In 2014, the tax-to-GDP ratios of Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Singapore were below 17% of GDP compared to Japan and Korea, which both recorded tax-to-GDP ratios above 24%,according to new data released in the third edition of the OECD’s annual publication Revenue Statistics in Asian Countries.

The OECD’s work to advance tax certainty specifically includes 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. As part of that work, 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.

Monaco today deposited its instrument of ratification for the Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters ("the Convention"). By doing so, Monaco underlines its commitment to fighting tax evasion and avoidance and takes another important step in implementing the Standard for Automatic Exchange of Financial Account Information in Tax Matters developed by the OECD and G20 countries.

Comments are invited on draft examples included in a discussion draft on the follow-up work on the ineraction between the treaty provisions of the report on BEPS Action 6 and the treaty entitlement of non-CIV funds.

As part of continuing efforts to boost transparency by multinational enterprises (MNEs), Gabon, Hungary, Indonesia, Lithuania, Malta, Mauritius and the Russian Federation have now signed the Multilateral Competent Authority Agreement for Country-by-Country Reporting (CbC MCAA), bringing the total number of signatories to 57. Lithuania and Hungary joined the Agreement in October and December 2016 respectively.

The OECD is now gathering input for the Stage 1 peer reviews of Austria, France, Germany, Italy, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg and Sweden, and invites taxpayers to submit input on specific issues relating to access to MAP, clarity and availability of MAP guidance and the timely implementation of MAP agreements for each of these jurisdictions using the taxpayer input questionnaire.

This report consists of two parts. Part I is an update report by the OECD Secretary-General regarding the latest developments in the international tax agenda, including (Annex 1) the joint OECD/IMF Report on Tax Certainty. Part II is a Progress Report to the G20 by the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes.

Tax revenues in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) countries continued to increase in 2015, according to new data from the annual Revenue Statistics in Latin America and the Caribbean publication. The average tax-to-GDP ratio for LAC countries reached 22.8% of GDP in 2015, up from 22.2% in 2014.

On 6 January 2017, public comments were invited on draft examples prepared as part of the follow-up work on the interaction between the treaty provisions of the report on BEPS Action 6 and the treaty entitlement of non-CIV funds. The OECD is grateful for the input and now publishes a compilation of the comments received.

The Inclusive Framework on BEPS has released additional guidance to provide essential information that will give certainty to tax administrations and MNE Groups alike on implementation of Country-by-Country (CbC) reporting (BEPS Action 13).

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.

This report uses household level data covering 20 OECD countries to analyse energy affordability at current energy prices and explores how these indicators change in response to a simulated energy tax reform. The report finds that higher energy prices, needed to cut harmful carbon emissions and air pollution, can also help achieve social policy objectives.

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.

On 5 May, the OECD launched a public disclosure facility for information on schemes designed to circumvent the application of the Common Reporting Standard.

The OECD is now gathering input for the Stage 1 peer reviews of the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Korea, Norway, Poland, Singapore and Spain, and invites taxpayers to submit input on specific issues relating to access to MAP, clarity and availability of MAP guidance and the timely implementation of MAP agreements for each of these jurisdictions using the taxpayer input questionnaire.

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").

Public comments are invited on two discussion drafts: Attribution of Profits to Permanent Establishments, which deals with work in relation to Action 7 of the BEPS Action Plan and the Revised Guidance on Profit Splits, which deals with work in relation to Actions 8-10 of the BEPS Action Plan.

Today at the OECD Headquarters in Paris, Mahess Rawoteea of the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development of Mauritius, signed the Multilateral Convention to Implement Tax Treaty Related Measures to Prevent Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (the MLI) in the presence of Douglas Frantz, OECD Deputy Secretary-General.

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.

The OECD Transfer Pricing Guidelines provide guidance on the application of the “arm’s length principle”, which represents the international consensus on the valuation, for income tax purposes, of cross-border transactions between associated enterprises.