Senior members of the OECD's Centre for Tax Policy and Administration (CTPA) commented on the launch of the 2015 OECD/G20 BEPS reports.
The OECD presented today the final package of measures for a comprehensive, coherent and co-ordinated reform of the international tax rules to be discussed by G20 Finance Ministers at their meeting on 8 October, in Lima, Peru.
This event will review progress on tax and development made in 2015, including in relation to the UN Sustainable Development Goals, the Financing for Development Conference, the Addis Tax Initiative, the OECD/G20 Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) Project, Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes and Tax Inspectors Without Borders (TIWB).
OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurría today called on all countries to fully engage with the new Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and said advanced and emerging economies had a particular responsibility to translate the global goals into national policy and to support developing countries in doing the same.
Healthcare costs are rising so fast in advanced economies that they will become unaffordable by mid-century without reforms, according to a new OECD report.
Vast amounts are lost to illicit financial flows, including tax evasion, money laundering, bribery and corruption. These crimes threaten the strategic, political and economic interests of both developed and developing countries. In a world of limited resources and increasing complexity, it is essential for government authorities to work closely together in a “whole of government” approach to best address these challenges.
SMEs form the vast majority of businesses in most countries and contribute strongly to employment and economic growth, but they face particular challenges, particularly as concerns access to finance. Governments have a range of policy levers, including tax policies, that can and should be used to support the growth and development of SMEs, according to a new OECD report.
Increasing tax revenues and ensuring sustainable domestic resource mobilisation will be critical as emerging Asian economies seek to boost the provision of public goods and services and improve economic growth and living standards.
Tax administrations continue to face the challenges of improving their performance while reducing costs, decreasing compliance burdens for taxpayers tackling non-compliance. Improving taxpayer services, while making non-compliance harder, is helping revenue bodies increase their efficiency and allowing governments to finance important programmes that will further benefit their citizens.
The OECD today releases three new reports to help jurisdictions and financial institutions implement the global Standard for automatic exchange of financial account information.
The Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes published new peer review reports today for 12 countries or jurisdictions, moving further ahead with its goal to implement global standards on transparency and exchange of information for tax purposes.
Taxpayer education is the bridge linking tax administration and citizens and a key tool to transform tax culture. Covering innovative strategies in 28 countries, this publication offers ideas and inspiration for taxpayer education, literacy and outreach. The presentation ceremony, which took place in Bolivia, was attended by representatives of EuropeAid, EUROsociAL, Bolivia's National Tax Service and the OECD.
The OECD is holding three tax events on the side-lines of the 3rd International Conference on Financing for Development in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
The OECD and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) have launched a new initiative to help developing countries bolster domestic revenues by strengthening their tax audit capacities.
Meeting budgetary targets is hard enough in any country, but for developing countries struggling to lift their economies, it can seem a near impossible task. However, governments and local authorities everywhere in the world have a duty to provide public and social services for their citizens, and infrastructure that will attract investors. Tax revenues are therefore vital for meeting public demands as well as development aspirations.
Governments should set prudent debt targets to ensure that public finances serve to promote economic growth and stability, according to new OECD research.
Taxes are potentially among the most effective ways of cutting pollution and greenhouse gas emissions, but they are currently – with very few exceptions – underused; and even where used, they are frequently designed in a sub-optimal way.
Concerns around potential losses of competitiveness as a result of unilateral action on carbon pricing are often central for policy makers contemplating the introduction of such instruments. This paper is a review of literature on ex post empirical evaluations of the impacts of carbon prices on indicators of competitiveness as employed in the literature, including employment, output or exports, at different levels of aggregation.
Proposals to increase environmentally related taxes are often challenged on competitiveness grounds. The concern is that value creation in certain sectors might decline domestically if a country introduces environmentally related taxes unilaterally. This paper provides evidence on the short-term competitiveness impacts of the German electricity tax introduced unilaterally in 1999.
The International Tax Dialogue (ITD) is organising its 6th global conference at the OECD. This year’s conference will focus on Tax and the Environment, an issue of growing importance and of direct relevance in the lead up to the COP21 meeting taking place later in the year. The ITD is a joint initiative of the EC, IDB, IMF, OECD, World Bank and CIAT.
Governments are under-utilising taxation as a tool to curb the environmental consequences of energy use, foregoing revenue and weakening their attack on the principal source of greenhouse gas emissions responsible for climate change and air pollution, according to new OECD analysis.
In line with the international movement towards more transparency and exchange of information, Mauritius has taken a significant step to enhance its exchange of information legal framework and has signed the Multilateral Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters.
Proposals to increase environmentally related taxes are often challenged on competitiveness grounds. The concern is that value creation in certain sectors might decline domestically if a country introduces environmentally related taxes unilaterally. This paper provides evidence on the short-term competitiveness impacts of the German electricity tax introduced unilaterally in 1999.
On 4 June 2015, interested parties were invited to comment on a discussion draft on Action 8 (Hard-to-value intangibles) of the BEPS Action Plan.
On 22 May 2015, interested parties were invited to comment on a revised discussion draft which includes proposals on how to deal with the follow-up work on Action 6 (Prevent treaty abuse) of the BEPS Action Plan.
The European Commission presented today an Action Plan to fundamentally reform corporate taxation in the EU. The Action Plan sets out a series of initiatives to tackle tax avoidance, secure sustainable revenues and strengthen the Single Market for businesses.
On 15 May 2015, interested parties were invited to comment on a revised discussion draft on Action 7 (Prevent the Artificial Avoidance of PE Status) of the BEPS Action Plan.
Pushing forward efforts to boost transparency in international tax matters, the OECD today released a package of measures for the implementation of a new Country-by-Country Reporting plan developed under the OECD/G20 BEPS Project.
In a boost for international efforts to strengthen co-operation against offshore tax evasion, seven new countries have joined the agreement to exchange information automatically under the OECD/G20 standard.
Public comments are invited on a discussion draft which deals with work in relation to Action 8 of the Action Plan on Base Erosion and Profit Shifting
The OECD’s Annual Meeting at Ministerial Level reinforced member governments’ support across a broad range of key OECD work.
El Salvador signed today the Multilateral Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters, becoming the 86th signatory to the most comprehensive instrument for boosting international co-operation against offshore tax evasion.
Work on the development of the Multilateral Instrument to implement the tax treaty-related Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) Action Plan began on 27 May 2015 in Paris. As per the OECD/G20 mandate, the ad hoc Group that will complete the work under Action 15 has been established, with over 80 countries participating.
Governments are working together in order to try to address a lot of issues that need to be addressed. There is a real and coordinated effort in order to obtain a better level of transparency. Its objectives are quite ambitious. Greater transparency can be a move in a positive direction.
The Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes published today new peer review reports for the Czech Republic, Kazakhstan and Morocco.
Public comments are invited on a new discussion draft which includes proposals on how to deal with the follow-up work on Action 6 (Prevent Treaty Abuse) of the Action Plan on Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS).
Public comments are invited on a new discussion draft which includes proposals resulting from the work on Action 7 (Prevent the Artificial Avoidance of PE Status) of the Action Plan on Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS).
On 16 April 2015, interested parties were invited to comment on the discussion draft on Action 11 (Data Analysis) of the BEPS Action Plan. The OECD is grateful to the commentators for their input and is now publishing the comments received.
On 3 April 2015, interested parties were invited to comment on the discussion draft on Action 3 (Strengthening CFC Rules) of the BEPS Action Plan. The OECD is grateful to the commentators for their input and now publishes the comments received.
On 31 March 2015, interested parties were invited to comment on the discussion draft on Action 12 (Mandatory Disclosure Rules) of the BEPS Action Plan. The OECD is grateful to the commentators for their input and now publishes the comments received.
Public comments are invited on this discussion draft which deals with work in relation to Action 8 of the BEPS Action Plan.
Public Comments are invited on a discussion draft which deals with Action 11 (Improving the analysis of BEPS) of the BEPS Action Plan.
Taxes on wages have risen by about 1 percentage point for the average worker in OECD countries between 2010 and 2014 even though the majority of governments did not increase statutory income tax rates, according to a new OECD report.
Public comments are invited on a discussion draft which deals with action 12 (Mandatory Disclosure Rules) of the BEPS Action Plan.
Delegates from over 90 jurisdictions have gathered at the OECD Conference Centre in Paris in two meetings devoted to discussing solutions to base erosion and profit shifting (BEPS).
The OECD will hold a public consultation event on transfer pricing matters on 19-20 March 2015 at the OECD Conference Centre in Paris, France.
The OECD Secretary-General Gurría welcomed the announcement and congratulated the Commission for the work done. "The European Commission’s initiative is another major step to tackle corporate tax avoidance.
The Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes published today 9 new peer review reports, including a Phase 1 Supplementary Report for Switzerland, demonstrating continuing progress toward implementation of the international standard for exchange of information on request.
This paper provides an update of the indicators that measure the tax autonomy of sub-central governments in OECD countries. Over the last decade, tax autonomy at the state level increased, while it hardly changed at the local level. The OECD now has tax autonomy indicators for the years 1995, 2002, 2005, 2008 and 2011.
The Slovak Republic was among the fastest growing OECD economies in the last decade. It is broadly recognised that the 2004 tax reform contributed to this success. Ten years after this fundamental reform, however, the time has come to re-evaluate some of the key characteristics of the Slovak tax system.