The Swiss Federal Tax Authority has released new English-language guidance for foreign businesses on their obligations under Swiss VAT law.

The Swiss Government has released new legislation governing Switzerland's application of provisions in its network of double tax agreements.

Higher tax receipts helped Switzerland to another surplus in 2019, with withholding tax and direct federal tax performing particularly well.

The United Arab Emirates' Federal Tax Authority has released a statement confirming that all purchases from online retailers are subject to the same value-added tax rules as for purchases from brick and mortar stores – that they should generally be subject to the headline five percent value-added tax rate.

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

Bahrain has committed to pushing towards the introduction of the Gulf Cooperation Council's value-added tax framework by the end of the year.

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 United Arab Emirates' Federal Tax Authority has issued guidance on obtaining refunds of value-added tax on new homes.

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

The UAE has recently passed legislation to introduce new country-by-country reporting requirements and new economic substance requirements.

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 Japanese and Danish governments announced on October 11 that they had signed a new agreement for the avoidance of double taxation in Tokyo.

In introducing its new 2017 International Tax Competitiveness Index, the Tax Foundation, a US tax policy think tank, notes the importance of simple but effective tax regimes and highlights New Zealand as the country that has implemented particularly positive reforms.

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.

The National Taxpayers Union has called upon the US Department of Commerce to halt its investigation into steel and aluminum imports, claiming that imposing tariffs would be "an economically inefficient solution to a narrow problem."

Japan's Ministry of Finance has reported the signing of a double tax agreement with Iceland in Reykjavik.

Japan's Cabinet recently approved tax reform bills, which have now been introduced into the country's parliament for debate.

The OECD has reported on the progress achieved to improve tax transparency internationally under the new Common Reporting Standard (CRS), ahead of the meeting of G20 finance ministers in Fukuoka, Japan.

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The UK tax agency has announced that it has scheduled two new webinars to support the construction industry to come to terms with the new VAT reverse charge being introduced on building and construction services from October 1.

HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has automatically registered 95,000 businesses for its simplified import procedures, allowing most UK traders up to six months to pay import duties and submit customs declarations, if the UK leaves the EU without a deal on October 31, 2019.

Airbnb has disclosed that it has been contacted by HM Revenue and Customs regarding the application of tax laws or regulations impacting the company's business, adding that some matters "may result in litigation".

On November 5, 2019, the UK Government released the synthesized text of the Luxembourg-UK double tax agreement, as modified by the BEPS multilateral instrument.

New Zealand is the easiest place in the world to do business, according to the World Bank's new Doing Business 2020 report, which looks at the simplicity of setting up, operating, and paying taxes in 190 territories around the world.

The main UK opposition party Labour has set out its plans for tax reform, in a manifesto released on November 21.

The Conservative Party in the UK has won an outright majority in elections held on December 12, 2019.

The UK Government on January 10, 2020, released the synthesized text of the 1987 Belgium-UK double tax agreement, as modified by the BEPS multilateral instrument.

The Federal Association of German Industry, the BDI, has urged the German government to forge ahead with corporate tax reforms, warning that Germany's corporate tax regime is becoming increasingly out of step with the country's competitors.

The UK's National Audit Office has called for a more comprehensive review of the 1,190 tax relief measures available for taxpayers, which are estimated to have cost the UK revenues worth GBP155bn (USD201.7bn) in 2018-19.

The UK's 2020 Budget, released on March 11, 2020, includes proposals to waive business rates on small retailers, to introduce a new tax on plastics, and to remove value-added tax on electronic publications.

The German Ministry of Finance has adopted a circular including various tax relief measures for businesses affected by the coronavirus outbreak.

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.