GCC: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) Recommends Diversifying Tax Bases of the States of Gulf Cooperation Council
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has recommended diversifying tax bases of the states of Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). It wants GCC to diversify the tax bases from their heavy reliance on oil revenues. The heavy reliance on oil revenue can
See MoreOECD Publishes Information on Revenue Statistics for 2014
The Revenue Statistics for 2014 published by the OECD on 10 December 2014 show that tax revenue collection in the member countries of the OECD has risen back towards the levels prevailing before the financial crisis. The composition of the tax
See MoreOECD : Discussion Draft on Prevention of Treaty Benefits
On 21 November 2014 the OECD released a discussion draft in respect of follow-up work on Action 6 of the action plan on base erosion and profit shifting (BEPS) in respect of preventing the granting of tax treaty benefits in certain circumstances.
See MoreDubai and China: first Chinese issuer to list a bond on an exchange in the Middle East
China has issued an RMB 1bn three-year bond on NASDAQ Dubai. The Agriculture Bank of China (ABC), China's third largest bank by assets, became the first Chinese issuer to list a bond on an exchange in the Middle East. The Emirate's stylish financial
See MoreOECD Releases Mutual Agreement Procedure Statistics for 2013
The OECD Model Tax Convention includes a provision for a mutual agreement procedure (MAP) in Article 25. Under this procedure the competent authorities of the two contracting states are required to endeavor to reach agreement to resolve issues that
See MoreVenezuela: President signs off on tax increases
In order to increase and diversify government revenue, Venezuela`s President has accepted tax increases on 18th November 2014. 28 laws have been passed to incorporate an increment in the excise duty for buying luxury goods from 10% to 15%. This
See MoreVenezuela: Amendments contain income tax and VAT
The president has declared the enactment of a series of laws to notice the economic development in Venezuela on 18th November 2014. These laws includes the following tax related items: Income tax reformation to raise tax collection via the
See MoreOECD: Discussion Draft on Low Value-Adding Services
The OECD issued a discussion draft on 3 November 2014 in connection with Action 10 of the BEPS project. This relates to modifications to the OECD Transfer Pricing Guidelines in respect of low value adding intra-group services. The discussion draft
See MoreOECD Strategy for Developing Country Involvement in BEPS
The OECD/G20 project on base erosion and profit shifting is important not just to developed countries but to the developing countries which rely on corporate income tax collected from large companies, including multinationals, to fund their
See MoreWTO Report Shows a Rise in Restrictive Trade Measures
A report prepared by the World Trade Organization (WTO) for the G20 and issued on 6 November 2014 indicates that despite undertakings to roll back restrictive trade measures these are still on the rise in the G20 economies. Restrictive measures have
See MoreOECD Report Examines Tax Debt Management
The OECD Forum on Tax Administration (FTA) has published a study entitled “Working Smarter in Tax Debt Management” to provide a picture of the most effective approaches to tax collection and recovery. The study appears at a time when tax debts
See MoreOECD: Report on Increasing Taxpayer Use of Self Service Channels
The efficiency of tax administration can increase if there is improved management of requests by taxpayers for support and advice. Following two previous studies on the improvement of service demand the OECD's Forum on Tax Administration requested
See MoreTax Administration Leaders Discuss Concerted Action to Deal With Global Challenges
On 23 and 24 October 2014 the heads of tax administrations convened for the ninth meeting of the OECD Forum on Tax Administration (FTA). Delegations from around forty tax administrations discussed the implications of the project on base erosion and
See MoreOECD: Measures of Tax Compliance Outcomes
The OECD's Forum on Tax Administration (FTA) has put together a report entitled: “Measures of Tax Compliance Outcomes: A Practical Guide”. Tax Administrations are concerned with outcomes such as collecting the right amount of tax, improving
See MoreGlobal Forum Publishes Peer Reviews
The Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes has published reports on Phase 2 peer reviews of Belize, Ghana, Gibraltar, Grenada, Israel, the Russian Federation and St Vincent and the Grenadines. The reports cover the
See MoreUN Taxation Experts Discuss International Tax Issues
The tenth session of the UN Committee of Experts on International Cooperation in Tax Matters took place in Geneva from 21 to 25 October 2014. The experts considered issues relating to the next update of the UN Model Tax Convention and commentary,
See MoreEuropean Commission Proposals for the Future of VAT in the EU
The European Commission issued a paper on 30 October 2014 outlining ideas on creating a more effective VAT system that is more in line with the objectives of the single market in the EU. The intention is to create the definitive VAT regime that will
See MoreSpain Launches New Deferral Import Regime for 2015
Spain is set to launch an important import VAT postponement regime which will offer importers major cash-flow incentives. The new scheme should come into force from 2015. According to this regime, which is totally new in Spain, certain VAT taxpayers
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