The taxation of personal savings and wealth varies widely, offering governments significant scope for tax reforms that simultaneously improve both the efficiency and fairness of their tax systems, according to two new OECD reports.

The consultation document assessed how these schemes are used in an attempt to circumvent the CRS; identified the types of schemes that present a high risk of abuse; reminded stakeholders of the importance of correctly applying relevant CRS due diligence procedures in order to help prevent such abuse; and explained next steps the OECD will undertake to further address the issue, assisted by public input.

Building on BEPS Action 4, this practice note has been prepared by the OECD under a programme of co-operation with the Intergovernmental Forum on Mining, Minerals, Metals and Sustainable Development (IGF), to help guide tax officials on how to strengthen their defences against BEPS. Deadline for comment: 18 May 2018.

Public comments are invited on the future revision of Chapter IV, “Administrative Approaches to Avoiding and Resolving Transfer Pricing Disputes” of the Transfer Pricing Guidelines, and the future revision of Chapter VII, “Special Considerations for Intra-Group Services”, of the Transfer Pricing Guidelines.

Paris, 15-16 May 2018 - This workshop will focus on recent developments and main policy challenges related to the emergence of digital financial assets. Discussions will cover monetary policy and financial systems, regulation, firms’ business and funding models, and taxation.

Peru is taking important steps toward fighting corruption and fostering greater transparency and exchange of information by completing the necessary steps to become a Party to the OECD Convention on Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in International Business Transactions (Anti-Bribery Convention) and the multilateral Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters.

Paraguay signed today the Multilateral Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters, making it the 119th jurisdiction to join the world’s leading instrument for boosting transparency and combating cross-border tax evasion.

Today, in Ouagadougou, an OECD delegation met the Minister of Economy, Finance and Development of Burkina Faso, Mrs. Hadizatou Rosine Coulibaly, to discuss the progress made in the implementation of new international tax standards.

This draft toolkit has been prepared by the Intergovernmental Forum on Mining, Minerals, Metals and Sustainable Development (IGF), under a programme of co-operation with the OECD, to help governments anticipate and limit the cost of mining tax incentives. It is part of wider efforts to address some of the challenges developing countries are facing in raising revenue from their mining sectors.

Today, the OECD and the African Tax Administration Forum (ATAF) signed a renewal of their Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) until June 2023, agreeing to continue to work together to improve tax systems in Africa. The MoU sets their co-operation towards the achievement of the common objective of promoting fair and efficient tax systems and administrations in Africa.

Today, the OECD released two reports containing Guidance for Tax Administrations on the Application of the Approach to Hard-to-Value Intangibles under BEPS Action 8; and Revised Guidance on the Application of the Transactional Profit Split Method under BEPS Action 10.

Kazakhstan today became the 102nd jurisdiction to sign the OECD's Multilateral Competent Authority Agreement for the Common Reporting Standard (CRS MCAA).

Ministers and senior officials from Kazakhstan, Peru and the United Arab Emirates have signed the BEPS Multilateral Convention bringing the total number of signatories to 81. This Convention updates the existing network of bilateral tax treaties and reduces opportunities for tax avoidance by multinational enterprises.

Peru today signed a landmark treaty to improve the international tax system. The signing of the BEPS Multilateral Convention came during the fifth plenary meeting of the Inclusive Framework on BEPS held in the Lima on 27-28 June 2018.

Public comments received on the scope of the future revisions of Chapter IV (Administrative Approaches) and Chapter VII (Intra-group services) of the Transfer Pricing Guidelines

Estonia becomes the 82nd jurisdiction to join the MLI. Estonia’s signature follows the signatures by Kazakhstan, Peru and the United Arab Emirates earlier this week. JAlso today, the United Kingdom deposited its instrument of ratification for the Multilateral Instrument with the OECD.

The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia today signed the multilateral Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters, making it the 124th jurisdiction to join the world’s leading instrument for boosting transparency and combating cross-border tax evasion.

Public comments are invited on a discussion draft on financial transactions, which deals with follow-up work in relation to Actions 8-10 ("Assure that transfer pricing outcomes are in line with value creation") of the BEPS Action Plan.

On 4 July 2018, in Abidjan, an OECD delegation met with the State Secretariat to the Prime Minister in charge of Budget and State Portfolio to discuss the progress made in the implementation of new international standards to combat tax fraud and tax evasion.

Today, the OECD published a new set of bilateral exchange relationships established under the Common Reporting Standard Multilateral Competent Authority Agreement (CRS MCAA), bringing the total number of relationships to over 3200, an increase of more than 500 since April of this year.

The Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes (the Global Forum), published today seven peer review reports assessing compliance with the international standard on tax transparency and exchange of information on request (EOIR).

The Platform for Collaboration on Tax – a joint initiative of the IMF, OECD, UN and World Bank Group – has undertaken, at the request of the G20, the development of a series of “toolkit” reports to help guide developing countries in the implementation of policy options for issues in international taxation of greatest relevance to these countries.

Over 70 participants from 20 countries in Europe and Central Asia gathered Georgia for a high-level regional event on Developments in International Tax Co-operation on 17-18 July 2018. Participants discussed policy responses to fighting tax evasion and avoidance, as well as the opportunities and challenges presented by the practical implementation of international standards on tax transparency and BEPS.

As part of a mission held from 16 to 19 July 2018 in Islamabad, Pakistan aimed at launching the induction programme to support the implemention of the BEPS measures and initiating the TIWB programme, an OECD delegation met in Islamabad to discuss the progress of the country in implementing the new international standards to combat tax avoidance and tax evasion.

OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurría and Argentina’s Minister of Treasury Nicolás Dujovne presided today over the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding to establish a centre of the OECD Academy for Tax and Financial Crime Investigation in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

This report contains two parts. Part I is a report on the activities and achievements of the OECD’s tax agenda, and is made of two subparts: looking back at significant achievements and looking ahead at the further progress needed, in particular through the OECD/G20 Inclusive Framework on BEPS. Part II is a Progress Report to the G20 by the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes.

Today, Ukraine signed the Multilateral Convention to Implement Tax Treaty Related Measures to Prevent Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (the Convention). Ukraine becomes the 83rd jurisdiction to join the Convention, which will update the existing network of bilateral tax treaties to reduce opportunities for tax avoidance by multinational enterprises.

Antigua and Barbuda today signed the Multilateral Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters. It is the 125th jurisdiction to join the Convention.

The work on BEPS Action 14 continues with today’s publication of the fourth round of stage 1 peer review reports. Each report assesses a country’s efforts to implement the Action 14 minimum standard as agreed to under the OECD/G20 BEPS Project.

This paper reviews and evaluates the efficacy of simplified tax registration and collection mechanisms for securing compliance of taxpayers over which the jurisdiction with taxing rights has limited or no authority to effectively enforce a tax collection or other compliance obligation.

The OECD has published new transfer pricing country profiles for Costa Rica, Greece, Republic of Korea, Panama, Seychelles, South Africa and Turkey. In addition, it has also updated the information contained in Singapore’s profile. The country profiles are now available for 52 countries.

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and Norway agreed today to gear up efforts to help developing countries address their domestic resource mobilisation challenges in order to finance the Sustainable Development Goals.

The Inclusive Framework on BEPS has released additional interpretative guidance to give certainty to tax administrations and MNE Groups alike on the implementation of Country-by-Country (CbC) Reporting (BEPS Action 13).

On 3 July 2018, interested parties were invited to provide comments on a discussion draft on financial transactions, which deals with follow-up work in relation to Actions 8-10 (“Assure that transfer pricing outcomes are in line with value creation”) of the BEPS Action Plan. The OECD is grateful to the commentators for their input and now publishes the public comments received.

Today, Saudi Arabia signed the Multilateral Convention to Implement Tax Treaty Related Measures to Prevent Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (the Convention). Saudi Arabia becomes the 84th jurisdiction to join the Convention, which now covers over 1,400 bilateral tax treaties.

Tax officials from 21 jurisdictions met this week in Yangzhou, China, to share experiences from the first year of country-by-country reporting and explore how information can be used most effectively in the tax risk assessment of MNE groups. The workshop also included representatives of large MNE groups headquartered or with major operations in China and the Asia-Pacific region.

Australia, France, Japan and the Slovak Republic have deposited their instrument of ratification or acceptance for the Multilateral Convention to Implement Tax Treaty Related Measures to Prevent Base Erosion and Profit Shifting with the OECD’s Secretary-General, therewith underlining their strong commitment to prevent the abuse of tax treaties and BEPS by multinational enterprises.

An innovative international co-operation initiative that deploys qualified experts in developing countries to strengthen their ability to effectively tax multinational enterprises has achieved significant milestones over the past year, according to a new annual report.

The Global Forum published today seven peer review reports assessing compliance with the international standard on transparency and exchange of information on request (EOIR).

As part of its work to preserve the integrity of the CRS, the OECD has published the results of its analysis of over 100 CBI/RBI schemes offered by CRS-committed jurisdictions, identifying those schemes that potentially pose a high-risk to the integrity of CRS.

The OECD and Papua New Guinea's Internal Revenue Commission agreed today to gear up efforts to tackle tax base erosion and profit shifting by multinational enterprises in Papua New Guinea, through participation in the OECD/UNDP Tax Inspectors Without Borders initiative.

The OECD’s Centre for Tax Policy and Administration and the Intergovernmental Forum on Mining, Minerals, Metals and Sustainable Development (IGF) are collaborating to address some of the challenges developing countries face in raising revenue from their mining sectors. Under this partnership, a series of practice notes and tools are being developed for governments.

Countries must step up work to ensure that tax authorities and anti-corruption authorities can effectively co-operate in the fight against tax evasion, bribery, and other forms of corruption, according to a joint OECD/World Bank report.

The OECD and the Inter-American Center of Tax Administrations (CIAT) hosted today the high-level event "Base Erosion and Profit Shifting Implementation: Strategic importance, challenges and opportunities" in Lisbon, Portugal.

Ecuador today signed the Multilateral Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters, making it the 126th jurisdiction to join the world’s leading instrument for boosting transparency and combating cross-border tax evasion. The Multilateral Competent Authority Agreement on Automatic Exchange of Financial Account Information (CRS MCAA) was also signed.

Africa has sustained gains in domestic resource mobilisation made since 2000, as tax revenues remained stable in 2016, according to Revenue Statistics in Africa 2018. Providing internationally comparable data for 21 participating countries, the report finds that the average tax-to-GDP ratio was 18.2% in 2016, the same level as in 2015, which represents a strong improvement from 13.1% in 2000.

Over 60 delegates from 16 countries, international and regional organisations, business, civil society and academia gathered in Yerevan, Armenia on 7 - 9 November 2018 for a regional meeting of the Inclusive Framework on BEPS in Eastern Europe and Central Asia.

Global cooperation to fight tax evasion and avoidance has grown rapidly over the past few years. Tax Transparency and Exchange of Information between tax authorities about financial assets and activities of their taxpayers abroad has proved to be a valuable tool in this fight.

This new guidance presents a clear overview of the modifications to tax treaties resulting from the Multilateral BEPS Convention which entered into force on 1 July 2018. A Secretariat note, also released today, clarifies the entry into effect rules for tax treaties of jurisdictions that deposited their ratification instruments last September.

International efforts to curb harmful tax practices and prevent the misuse of preferential tax regimes are having a tangible impact worldwide, according to new data released today by the OECD.