On September 23, 2019, the French Government outlined a number of measures that will be included in the 2020 Finance Law to ensure the payment of value-added tax on items bought by French residents from online marketplaces.

On November 18, 2019, the Government of the Czech Republic announced that it has agreed on a draft law to introduce a tax on digital services, which will now be submitted to parliament.

The United States may impose additional duties of up to 100 percent on certain French products in retaliation for France's digital services tax, which a newly published report by the US Trade Representative has concluded discriminates against certain US companies.

The Austrian Ministry of Finance has published guidance in English regarding the Digital Tax Act 2020, which was approved by the upper house of the Austrian parliament on October 10, 2019, and which applies to the provision of digital advertising services from 2020.

On January 6, 2020, the United States Trade Representative (USTR) announced that an on-the-record but off-camera public hearing would be held on January 7 on proposed action against France's digital services tax (DST).

On January 9, 2019, the United States Internal Revenue Service announced the launch of a new Gig Economy Tax Center, which is intended to help taxpayers meet their tax obligations through more streamlined information.

Norway's Minister of Finance, Siv Jensen, has said that Norway will adopt a national digital services tax if negotiations towards an international digital tax framework fail to materialize this year.

On January 8, 2020, a bill was introduced in the Senate of the US state of Maryland that would impose a tax on revenues associated with digital advertising derived in the state.

The Turkish tax authority has published a draft communique on the application of the digital sales tax, which is set to come into effect on March 1, 2020.

France's Directorate General of Public Finance confirmed in a statement issued on February 10, 2020, that companies liable for the country's digital services tax can delay payment of upcoming installments of the tax until December 2020.

In a new report for G20 ministers, the OECD has provided an update on its work to tackle tax base erosion and profit shifting relating to multinational businesses.

The European Council has approved new rules for the exchange of VAT payment data relating to cross-border e-commerce transactions.

The finance ministers of France, Germany, Italy, and Spain have put their names to a statement calling for countries to reach an agreement on solving the tax challenges of the digital economy by the end of 2020.

On March 1, 2020, Turkey's recently approved tax on certain digital services went into effect.

The Spanish Government has published the draft bill to introduce a digital services tax in Spain, beginning the formal parliamentary process needed to introduce the measure.

The European Commission has published its annual taxation trends report.

European car manufacturers have called on governments to ensure that a new test for measuring vehicle emissions does not create tax distortions for new cars entering the market.

Malta's Minister for Finance, Edward Scicluna, recently announced the launch of a number of fiscal incentives, which are intended to boost the take-up of voluntary private pensions.

A delegation from the European Parliament's PANA Committee will travel to Switzerland to discuss the efforts being taken to combat money laundering, terrorist financing, and tax offences.

The European Union value-added tax gap – the overall difference between expected VAT revenue and actual EU member state collections – was EUR152bn in 2015, says the European Commission, highlighting the need for further reforms to tackle avoidance, error, and evasion.

Malta has enacted rules removing the bias in favor of debt financing by creating a notional interest deduction for equity financing.

Malta's Minister for Finance, Edward Scicluna, told delegates to a recent law conference at the Old University in Valletta that beneficial ownership regulations will be published in the coming weeks.

Appleby, the offshore law firm, has spoken out against recent media coverage, which implies but does not allege that there is wrongdoing in the papers recently exposed that include information on its clients' tax affairs.

A new report has been issued following an audit into how taxes in Malta are administered.

Greens/EFA members of the European Parliament have called on the EU Code of Conduct Group to be more transparent about the criteria it used to create the EU's new blacklist of non-cooperative territories and how it will manage it going forward.

The Bermuda Government on January 31, 2018, updated the lists of the countries with which it will exchange country-by-country reports filed in Bermuda in 2018 and in 2019.

The OECD has recently launched a consultation on tackling the circumvention of its latest international tax transparency standard, the Common Reporting Standard, through the use by individuals of residency by investment (RBI), or citizenship by investment (CBI) schemes.

The European Commission has sent letters of formal notice to Cyprus, Greece, and Malta for not levying the correct amount of value-added tax on yachts.

The number of advance pricing agreements between EU member states and companies rose by 64 percent from 2015 to 2016, according to research by Eurodad.

Malta has reiterated its commitment to fighting aggressive tax planning, joining other EU member states who have unanimously agreed to amend the EU's tax information sharing law, the Directive on Administrative Cooperation.

Malta's Commissioner for Revenue recently announced electronic filing deadline extensions for corporate income tax returns.

The Office of Malta's Commissioner for Revenue has updated guidelines in relation to the Notional Interest Deduction rules.

Malta's Commissioner for Revenue on January 2, 2020, issued a single set of guidelines on the automatic exchange of financial account information.

The IMF has said that Malta should look for ways to diversify its tax base and strengthen tax revenues.

On February 20, 2020, Malta's Commissioner for Revenue said tax payments by bank draft or check issued by foreign banks will no longer be accepted.

Estonia has topped the Tax Foundation's International Tax Competitiveness Index for the fifth successive year, being deemed to have the "best tax code in the OECD."

Last year, the tax burden in OECD countries reached its highest level recorded, at 34.2 percent of gross domestic product, up 20 basis points on 2016, largely due to increasing taxes on personal consumption and companies.

The Belgian tax agency has issued a reminder to value-added tax-registered persons of their obligations to file VAT returns and pay VAT during the holiday season.

On January 10, 2018, the Belgian Ministry of Finance reminded taxpayers letting and leasing certain real estate that they can opt in to the value-added tax regime.

On February 14, 2019, the General Court of the European Union annulled the European Commission's decision that the Belgian tax regime relating to the excess profit of multinational companies is contrary to EU law.

Belgium's Council of Ministers has approved a draft law that would temporarily treat the United Kingdom as a member of the European Union for Belgian tax purposes should the UK leave the EU having failed to agree any withdrawal arrangements.

On May 2, 2019, Belgium's finance ministry confirmed that the Tax-on-web portal has been opened for personal and corporate income tax returns for the 2019 fiscal year.

Belgium's tax authority has announced corporate tax return filing deadlines for the 2019 tax year, with a concession for those with a deadline prior to September 26, 2019.

Belgium's tax agency has announced that its MyMinfin portal is now open for multinational taxpayers seeking to correct errors in filed country-by-country reports.

The OECD on August 13, 2019, released follow-up reports for Belgium, Canada, the Netherlands, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States on their efforts to implement BEPS recommendations on dispute resolution.

Tax agencies from 31 countries discussed the ways they are using data analysis tools to improve tax enforcement and administration, at the first meeting of the IOTA Forum on Tax Debt Management, held in Prague, Czech Republic, On October 1-3, 2019.

The overall tax burden in the European Union relative to GDP rose slightly in 2018, to 40.3 percent, the Eurostat has announced.

Nine EU member states have called on the European Commission to draw up proposals for an EU-wide aviation tax.

German Finance Minister Olaf Scholz has presented a final proposal for a European Union financial transactions tax to the 10 member states participating in the initiative.

On December 9, 2019, the Belgian Federal Public Finance Service reminded vendors that since December 1, 2019, they are required to round off cash payments to the nearest five cents.