In response to the coronavirus outbreak, the Maltese Government has announced deferrals for the payment of a number of taxes.
The Swiss Government has announced that it will waive interest on late payments of tax, to allow companies to delay their tax payments.
The German Ministry of Finance has adopted a circular including various tax relief measures for businesses affected by the coronavirus outbreak.
The Dutch Government will allow taxpayers to defer payments of certain taxes under a new package of coronavirus economic relief measures.
On March 13, 2020, the German Ministry of Finance announced the relaxation of certain tax payment requirements as part of a package of measures designed to ease the economic impact of the COVID-19 virus.
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 UK Government has announced that the expansion of the off-payroll working rules, known as IR35, will be delayed until April 2021, in light of the COVID-19 outbreak.
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.
Switzerland has said that the withdrawal of the UK from the EU on January 31 will not change the relationship between Switzerland and the UK in the near future.
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 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 Conservative Party in the UK has won an outright majority in elections held on December 12, 2019.
The main UK opposition party Labour has set out its plans for tax reform, in a manifesto released on November 21.
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has announced that his party intends to cancel a planned cut to the corporate tax rate, which was scheduled for April 2020.
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.
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.
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".
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.
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.
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.
On January 8, 2020, Japan and Morocco signed a double taxation agreement.
Japan's sales tax rose from eight to 10 percent on October 1, 2019, following two previous delays to the hike.
South Korea's Government has announced that it will provide tax relief to small and medium size businesses that have been affected by Japan's decision to remove 159 South Korea products from its export "white list."
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.
The EU and Japan have signed an Economic Partnership Agreement that will remove the majority of the EUR1bn (USD1.2bn) of duties paid annually by EU companies exporting to Japan.
Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary, Yoshihide Suga, has announced a task force will be set up to consider ways to mitigate the negative impact of the planned 2019 consumption tax rise.
Following its passage through Japan's parliament, the Diet, measures in Japan's 2018 tax reform package became law on April 1, 2018.
The US Internal Revenue Services has released its annual report on the number of advance pricing agreements and applications and made during the 2017 calendar year.
The fifth round of tariff cuts under the Japan-Australia Economic Partnership Agreement have entered into force.
Australia's free trade agreements are being widely used by Australian businesses, according to a new report commissioned by the Government.
Japan's Cabinet recently approved tax reform bills, which have now been introduced into the country's parliament for debate.
Ministers from 11 countries have announced their agreement upon the "core elements" of a new Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership.
Japan's Ministry of Finance has reported the signing of a double tax agreement with Iceland in Reykjavik.
Japan's ruling Liberal Democrat Party has approved a tax reform package that will cut corporate rates for companies who increase employee wages.
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."
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 EU's new free trade agreement with Japan, finalized by negotiators from both sides on December 8, 2017, has been described as the European bloc's most comprehensive yet.
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.
Hong Kong has signed a new free trade agreement with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, which is expected to become effective from January 2019.
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.
Japan's proposed sales tax hike is expected to go ahead as planned in 2019 after a landslide win by incumbent Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
The Japanese and Danish governments announced on October 11 that they had signed a new agreement for the avoidance of double taxation in Tokyo.
The United Arab Emirates' Federal Tax Authority has announced the launch of a new service on its website to simplify the process for taxpayers of recovering value-added tax incurred in building their own new homes.
The United Arab Emirates's amended excise tax regime entered into force on December 1, and now covers sweetened drinks and electronic smoking devices and liquids.
Citizens from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) will newly be able to claim refunds for the VAT they incur when building their own home.
The OECD is seeking input from taxpayers on dispute resolution mechanisms in place in Aruba, Bahrain, Barbados, Gibraltar, Greenland, Kazakhstan, Oman, Qatar, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Thailand, Trinidad and Tobago, the United Arab Emirates, and Vietnam, as part of follow-up work under BEPS Action Plan Action 14.
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.
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 UAE has recently passed legislation to introduce new country-by-country reporting requirements and new economic substance requirements.
The EU on May 25 removed the Bahamas and Saint Kitts and Nevis from its list of non-cooperative tax jurisdictions.