US: Treasury, IRS issue final BEAT guidance on qualified derivative payments in securities lending transactions
The US Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) issued final regulations in the Federal Register on 18 December 2025, outlining how qualified derivative payments (QDPs) are determined and reported in securities lending transactions
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Italy: Senate approves 2026 budget, increases taxes on banks
Italy’s government secured a decisive vote of confidence in the Senate on 30 December 2025 for its 2026 budget, winning 113 votes to 70, keeping it on track for final approval by parliament before year-end. The budget now moves to the lower
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Cyprus: Parliament passes tax reform package, introduces 120% R&D deductions
The Cyprus parliament passed a major tax reform package on 22 December 2025, introducing higher corporate taxation, expanded personal tax relief, new rules for crypto-asset income, and strengthened compliance mechanisms, alongside targeted
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WTO: Updated Global Trade Outlook
The October 2025 update of the Global Trade Outlook and Statistics noted that the WTO forecast for world merchandise trade volume growth in 2025 has risen to 2.4% (which is higher than the estimate of 0.9% in the interim outlook in August) 2025.
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Bahrain: Cabinet approves fiscal reforms, introduces 10% profit tax
Bahrain’s Cabinet approved a package of fiscal and economic measures aimed at curbing government spending, increasing revenues and safeguarding key subsidies, following a Cabinet meeting chaired by Crown Prince and Prime Minister Prince Salman bin
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Turkey to cut digital services tax rate in phases
Turkey has reduced its digital services tax (DST) with the publication of Presidential Decree No. 10767 in the Official Gazette (No. 33118) on 25 December 2025. The decree lowers the DST rate from 7.5% to 5% starting 1 January 2026 and further to
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Taiwan: Profit-Seeking enterprises must submit tax return attachments by deadline
Taiwan's Ministry of Finance (MOF) has reminded profit-seeking enterprises with a special fiscal year to submit all required attachments when filing profit-seeking enterprise income tax returns, except for those exempt under relevant
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Singapore: Government consults FY2026 budget
The Singapore Government has initiated a public consultation for the FY2026 Budget on 29 December 2025, inviting citizens to share their views and suggestions ahead of its delivery. Prime Minister and Minister for Finance, Lawrence Wong, will
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France gazettes special budget law for 2026, ensures uninterrupted functioning of government operations
France’s government has published Law No. 2025-1316 of 26 December 2025 in the Official Gazette on 27 December 2025, authorising the State to continue collecting existing taxes to ensure the uninterrupted functioning of government operations until
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World Bank: How behavioural science can help with tax compliance
A World Bank blog by J. Karver published on 9 October 2025 looked at ways in which behavioural science can assist tax compliance. The author points out that the level of tax compliance is not just a case of following rules but is shaped by the
See MoreWorld Bank: Impact of tax and spending measures on women
A World Bank policy research working paper with the title Mapping the Gender Dimension in Taxation and Budgeting: A Cross-Country Study of Laws, Policies and Practices was published on 4 December 2025. The research paper, written by H. Niesten, L
See MoreWorld Bank: Impact of non-tariff measures on global trade
A World Bank research paper with the title It’s Not (Just) the Tariffs: Rethinking Non-Tariff Measures in a Fragmented Global Economy, by D. Taglioni and H. Kee, was published on 22 October 2025. The research paper looks at the impact of
See MoreWorld Bank: Data-driven policies can transform tax compliance
An event held at the World Bank Group Office in Rome from 1 to 5 December 2025 was attended by experts from the World Bank, the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) and some Italian institutions. The participants examined the effect of data-driven risk
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Taiwan: MoF extends electric vehicle tax exemption until 2030
Taiwan’s Ministry of Finance (MoF) states that in order to enhance the willingness of consumers to purchase completely electric-operated automobiles or motorcycles , the Legislative Yuan passed on its third reading the draft of the amendment to
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Taiwan: Taipei Tax Bureau clarifies certain share, capital contribution transactions to be taxed as real estate deals
Taiwan’s The Taipei National Taxation Bureau of the Ministry of Finance stated that, in order to prevent individuals and profit-making enterprises from effectively transferring the real estate and land within China of the invested profit-making
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Hong Kong: IRD adjusts interest on tax reserve certificates
The Hong Kong Inland Revenue Department (IRD) announced, on 24 December 2025, that starting from 5 January 2026, the new annual rate of interest payable on Tax Reserve Certificates will be 0.2417% against the current rate of 0.2583%, i.e. the new
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OECD updates GIR MCAA signatories list
The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) published an updated list of signatories, including their signing dates, to the Multilateral Competent Authority Agreement on the Exchange of Global Anti-Base Erosion (GloBE)
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Italy announces statutory interest rate for 2026
Italy has published the Decree of 10 December 2025 in the Official Gazette, which sets a 1.6% statutory (legal) interest rate (down from 2.0%) with effect from 1 January 2026. The statutory interest rate applies to the taxation of interest income
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