On 22-23 February 2016, a regional network meeting on the implementation of the BEPS package was held in Dakar (Senegal), by the OECD in partnership with the CREDAF (Centre de Rencontres et d'Etudes des Dirigeants des Administrations Fiscales).

Public comments are invited on a discussion draft that includes proposals for changes to the OECD Model Tax Convention concerning the treaty residence of pension funds. Comments should be sent by 1 April 2016 at the latest.

On 1-3 March 2016, the OECD hosted two important events for the international tax community. The Task Force on Tax and Development and the Global Forum on Transfer Pricing gathered over 230 participants representing 84 jurisdictions and 11 international and regional organisations.

Despite a continuing slowdown in economic growth, tax revenues in Latin American and Caribbean countries rose slightly in 2014, as a proportion of national incomes, according to new data from the annual Revenue Statistics in Latin America and the Caribbean publication.

Mr. James Karanja has been appointed as Head of the joint OECD/UNDP Tax Inspectors Without Borders (TIWB) Initiative effective 11 April 2016. Mr. Karanja will lead the development of TIWB, which has been designed to support developing countries to build tax audit capacity.

In a continued effort to boost transparency in international tax matters, the OECD has today released its standardised electronic format for the exchange of Country-by-Country (CbC) Reports between jurisdictions – the CbC XML Schema – as well as the related User Guide.

Responses are invited to the questions included in a consultation document on issues and suggestions related to the impact of the Report on BEPS Action 6 on the tax treaty entitlement of non-CIV funds.

The “Panama Papers” revelations have shone the light on Panama’s culture and practice of secrecy. Panama is the last major holdout that continues to allow funds to be hidden offshore from tax and law enforcement authorities

On 29/02/2016, interested parties were invited to comment on a discussion draft othat includes proposals for changes to the OECD Model Tax Convention concerning the treaty residence of pension funds. The OECD is grateful to the commentators for their input and now publishes the comments received.

Government officials from around the world have called on the OECD to convene a special project meeting of the Joint International Tax Shelter Information and Collaboration (JITSIC) Network to explore possibilities of co-operation and information-sharing, identify tax compliance risks and agree collaborative action, in light of the “Panama Papers” revelations.

A special project meeting of the Joint International Tax Shelter Information and Collaboration (JITSIC) Network took place at the OECD in Paris on Wednesday 13 April, bringing together senior tax administration officials from countries worldwide to discuss opportunities for obtaining data, co-operation and information-sharing in light of the “Panama Papers” revelations.

The main international organisations working on taxation – the IMF, OECD, UN and WBG – have announced today further details on how they will act together through a Platform for Collaboration on Tax as a response to the growing importance of taxation in the international financing for development debate to achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

The issue of illicit financial flows (IFFS) is at the forefront of the international agenda. Both the OECD and the High Level Panel have focused attention on this problem and have identified ways in which to tackle it.

Bermuda became the 33rd signatory of the Multilateral Competent Authority Agreement for the automatic exchange of Country-by-Country reports (CbC MCAA), which is based on Article 6 of the Multilateral Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters and puts in place the automatic exchange framework for exchanging Country-by-Country Reports, as contemplated by BEPS Action 13.

The role of tax administrations in implementing the OECD/G20 work on the international tax agenda will be the focus of the 10th Plenary meeting of the OECD Forum on Tax Administration (FTA) to be held in Beijing, People's Republic of China, on 11-13 May 2016.

On 24 March 2016, comments were invited to the questions included in a consultation document on issues and suggestions on the tax treaty entitlement of non-CIV (Collective Investment Vehicle) funds.

The OECD and the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes announced today that Bahrain, Lebanon, Nauru, Panama and Vanuatu have now committed to share financial account information automatically with other countries.

As part of continuing efforts to boost transparency by multinational enterprises (MNEs), Canada, Iceland, India, Israel, New Zealand and the People’s Republic of China signed today the Multilateral Competent Authority agreement for the automatic exchange of Country-by-Country reports (“CbC MCAA”), bringing the total number of signatories to 39 countries. The signing ceremony took place in Beijing, China.

Delivering on the OECD/G20 international tax agenda, through implementation of the Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) Project and the Common Reporting Standard (CRS) for the automatic exchange of financial account information, took centre stage when Heads of Tax Administration met on 11-13 May in Beijing, China.

Public comments are 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. Comments should be sent by 30 June 2016 at the latest.

Jamaica and Uruguay today signed the Multilateral Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters and Brazil deposited its instrument of ratification of the Convention on the occasion of the launch of the OECD’s Latin American and Caribbean Regional Programme and the OECD Ministerial Council Meeting.

Mr Jefferson VanderWolk has been appointed Head of the Tax Treaty, Transfer Pricing & Financial Transactions Division in the Centre for Tax Policy and Administration. He will take up his duties in early July 2016.

On 23 May 2016, the OECD Council approved the amendments to the Transfer Pricing Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises and Tax Administrations ("Transfer Pricing Guidelines"), as set out in the 2015 BEPS Report on Actions 8-10 "Aligning Transfer Pricing Outcomes with Value Creation" and the 2015 BEPS Report on Action 13 "Transfer Pricing Documentation and Country-by-Country Reporting".

Paraguay has joined the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes as its 134th member.

Today the OECD has taken a new step in its continuing efforts to boost transparency in international tax matters with the release of guidance on the implementation of country-by-country (CbC) reporting.

Representatives of more than 80 countries and jurisdictions have gathered in Kyoto, Japan to push forward ongoing efforts to update international tax rules for the 21st century, the latest step in the OECD/G20 Project to tackle Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS).

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 will hold a public consultation event on the Multilateral Instrument on 7 July 2016 at the OECD Conference Centre in Paris, France.

The OECD has released a discussion draft which deals with the design and operation of the group ratio rule under BEPS Action 4 and the standardised IT-format for the exchange of tax rulings between jurisdictions under BEPS Action 5. It also announced that Angola has become the 83rd member of the Inclusive Framework on BEPS.

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.

The OECD welcomes Panama’s decision to sign the Multilateral Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters, which was formally communicated to the OECD in a letter from its Vice President and announced publicly on Friday 15 July 2016.

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.

G20 Finance Ministers, in their communique of February 2016, called upon the IMF, OECD, UN and World Bank Group to “recommend mechanisms to help ensure effective implementation of technical assistance programmes, and recommend how countries can contribute funding for tax projects and direct technical assistance, and report back with recommendations” at their July meeting.

The Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes (the Global Forum) published today 10 new peer review reports demonstrating continuing progress toward implementation of the international standard for exchange of information on request.

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.

In a ceremony at OECD Headquarters in Paris today, Burkina Faso, Malaysia, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and Samoa signed the Multilateral Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters, bringing the number of participating jurisdictions to 103.

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.

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.

57 delegates from 10 countries and 8 organisations gathered in Montevideo for the 1st regional meeting of the Inclusive Framework on Base Erosion and Profit shifting (BEPS) after its launch in Kyoto on 29 June-1st July 2016.

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.

Taxes on the labour income of the average worker in Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) countries totalled 21.7% of total labour costs in 2013, one-third lower than in OECD countries, where the average was 35.9%, according to the first edition of Taxing Wages in Latin America and the Caribbean.

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.

Today, as a further step to implement the OECD Common Reporting Standard (CRS), the first series of bilateral automatic exchange relationships were established among the first batch of jurisdictions committed to exchanging information automatically as of 2017.