The German Cabinet has approved a proposal to reduce the rate of value-added tax on electronic publications. The rate is expected to drop from January 1, 2020.

On October 1, 2019, the German Federal Cabinet approved financing of EUR54bn (USD59bn) for the Climate Protection Program 2030, which includes the introduction of carbon pricing, as well as other tax measures intended to encourage the use of cleaner forms of transport.

The upper house of the German parliament, the Bundesrat, has rejected certain tax elements of the Government's climate protection plan, including a reduction in value-added tax on long-distance rail travel.

For the fourth quarter ended March 31, 2020, ICICI Bank reported a 26 per cent rise in net profit at Rs 1,221 crore compared to Rs 969 crore a year ago

According to a PTI report, all state governments except Maharashtra have been paying for the railway costs to ferry passengers to their native places

Kerala coronavirus cases: With May 8 being the 100th day of COVID-19 outbreak in India, Kerala reported only one new case in 24 hours, state CM Pinarayi Vijayan said on Friday

UK COVID-19 news: The death comes as Britain prepares for some easing in the strict lockdown measures in place to curb the spread of the deadly virus as it is believed that Britain is past the peak of the pandemic

ICICI Bank's board also approved issuances of bonds/notes/offshore Certificate of Deposits in overseas markets up to $3 billion in single or multiple tranches for a period of one year

Globally, efforts are underway to develop a vaccine to treat Covid 19 which has stalled economic activity and led to death of over 2.77 lakh people across the world

TRA2020 conference in April 2020 has been cancelled

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Under complete lockdown less than a quarter of India's $2.8 trillion economy is functional. We are expected to lose over Rs 32,000 crore ($4.5 billion) every day during the lockdown

A cluster-based approach to lending is likely to be the best strategy for optimal results in the shortest possible time to accelerate credit flow to the MSME sector

Businesses that will be able to identify and implement changes and address new risks in the post-COVID-19 world would have advantages and can expect value appreciation

Adar Poonawala, CEO of Serum Institute of India, says he is taking the risk of initiating production even before the vaccine has reached advanced clinical trials

While marketing and promotional activity is not an immediate priority for advertisers struggling to re-build their own businesses, revenues will remain subdued through the middle of 2021

With most auto-stocks down by nearly 40-70% since February 2020, the post-COVID-19 scenario might see consumers move away from all forms of shared mobility to more personal forms of transport

Once the menace of COVID-19 pandemic is over, a new ecopolitical order will emerge which will be more focussed on human development, infrastructure around health and education, climate preservation and most importantly on people

Companies' success in the next 18 months won't be determined by their growth or profitability, but merely by their ability to survive and not run out of cash

Nautilus, an international trade union for maritime workers, has welcomed the outcome of top-level talks on updates to the Maritime Labour Convention to include measures to address bullying and harassment and to safeguard seafarers' wages when they are held captive.

The European Free Trade Association Surveillance Authority has approved a Norwegian state aid scheme which grants tax refunds to ship owners.

The European Free Trade Association Surveillance Authority has approved a six-month extension of the current Norwegian special tax system for shipping under the area's state aid rules.

The European Free Trade Association Surveillance Authority has approved a tax-based state aid scheme aimed at reducing maritime transport pollution in Norway.

The South African National Treasury has issued a discussion paper on a new diesel tax refund system, reviewing its administration and addressing anomalies related to its qualifying activities and beneficiaries.

The Financial Services Development Council released a report on March 3 on the policies, including tax measures, Hong Kong could adopt to improve its position as an insurance hub, especially in reinsurance, marine insurance, and captives.

New chemical markers intended to be used in gas oil (diesel) and kerosene in the EU are more resilient to fraud than the one currently applied, and introducing a new marker might cost less than member states currently lose in tax revenues, a new EU report says.

Norway's reelected Conservative Prime Minister, Erna Solberg, has pledged tax cuts for companies to encourage higher investment, job creation, and economic growth.

The European Free Trade Association states (Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland), and the South African Customs Union have begun negotiations to review their existing free trade agreement.

Switzerland's Government has recently decided on a number of trade matters and reviewed its plans for changes to how it administers vehicle taxes.

Both cars come with eight-speed steptronic sport automatic transmission and a host of safety features like six airbags, attentiveness assistance, dynamic stability control, including dynamic traction control, anti-lock braking system and electric parking brake

Among patients given hydroxychloroquine, 32.3% ended up needing a ventilator or dying, compared with 14.9% of patients who were not given the drug

The company has also resumed operations at its global research and development hub located in Mysore, Karnataka

According to figures declared by the Pharmaceutical Export Promotion Council of India (Pharmexcil), pharmaceutical exports registered a growth of 11.21 percent during the first quarter of FY20

Coronavirus impact: IndiGo CEO Ronojoy Dutta told the employees that they are left with no option but to implement pay-cuts. The airline had earlier rolled back its decision to cut pay

The move lifts the overhang of a warning letter for a plant that Dr Reddy's had been dealing with for long. Now all their plants have become USFDA compliant

The findings, published in the Lancet medical journal, showed that on average, people who got the triple drug reached the point of no detectable virus five days earlier than those in the control group - at 7 days versus 12 days

Singapore's Ministry of Finance has announced that about 880,000 Singaporean Housing and Development Board (HDB) households will receive the next installment of the GST Voucher – Utilities-Save (U-Save) rebate in January 2018.

Singapore's tax agency has announced that the territory's new double tax avoidance agreement with Cambodia entered into force on December 29, 2017, capping cross-border withholding taxes on trade and investment.

Singapore is engaging businesses on tweaking the design of its new carbon tax, which is proposed to be in place by 2019.

On July 5, 2019, Singapore's tax agency released a draft guide that includes proposals for more favorable GST rules for virtual currencies.

The Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (IRAS) has released new guidance for GST-registered persons on the completion of new boxes in the GST F5 return from next year.

The Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore has updated its guidance on the introduction from January 1, 2020, of an obligation on Singaporean taxpayers to collect GST on imported services under a reverse charge.

Canada's Revenue Minister has provided an update on the progress made by the Government in addressing tax evasion and aggressive tax avoidance.

Malaysia's Inland Revenue Board has denied allegations that it is more aggressively pursuing taxpayers affiliated with opposition political parties or their supporters.

The Malaysian Government in its Budget 2018 announced numerous tax changes, including an income tax cut, incentives for women to return to work, and tax relief for property investors and venture capital firms.

Muhammad bin Ibrahim, the Governor of the Central Bank of Malaysia, has stressed the need for Labuan to review its international tax framework in light of the OECD's work on Action 5 of the base erosion and profit shifting project, on harmful tax practices.

Franklin Templeton: The fund house has not given any clear indication about the possible timeline within which it will liquidate all its investments and return investors' money

Experts believe there was already a visible turnaround in the pharma sector, both on the domestic as well as on the exports side even before any traces of COVID-19

Besides lending against securities held by MFs, banks have been allowed by the RBI to do outright purchase of more than 25 per cent of Hold Till Maturity (HTM) securities in mutual funds portfolios in the absence of liquidity in the secondary market

Franklin Templeton Debt crisis: FT investors can hope to get better realisation of their locked investment if the market sentiment improves

The crisis served as a wake-up call for banks whose digital operations were growing at a snail's pace. They have started embracing the change