OECD Releases First BEPS Recommendations

 

The OECD released its first recommendations for a co-ordinated international approach to combat tax avoidance by multinational enterprises.

 

The recommendations, under the OECD/G20 Base Erosion and Profit Shifting Project, are designed to create a single set of international tax rules to end the erosion of tax bases and the artificial shifting of profits to jurisdictions to avoid paying tax.

 

The first 7 elements of the Action Plan released today focus on helping countries to:

• ensure the coherence of corporate income taxation at the international level, through new model tax and treaty provisions to neutralise hybrid mismatch arrangements (Action 2);
• realign taxation and relevant substance to restore the intended benefits of international standards and to prevent the abuse of tax treaties (Action 6);
• assure that transfer pricing outcomes are in line with value creation, through actions to address transfer pricing issues in the key area of intangibles (Action 8);
• improve transparency for tax administrations and increase certainty and predictability for taxpayers through improved transfer pricing documentation and a template for country-by-country reporting (Action 13);
• address the challenges of the digital economy (Action 1);
• facilitate swift implementation of the BEPS actions through a report on the feasibility of developing a multilateral instrument to amend bilateral tax treaties (Action 15); and
• counter harmful tax practices (Action 5).

 Please find more here.

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Standard for Automatic Exchange of Financial Account Information

The OECD has unveiled a new single global standard for the automatic exchange of information between tax authorities worldwide to reinforce action against tax avoidance and evasion and inject greater trust and fairness into the international tax system.

 

The Standard for Automatic Exchange of Financial Account Information can be found here.

 

More Trade News in Brief Week 48 (25 November – 1 December 2013)

 

* OECD: Global Economy Recovering at Moderate Pace

 

On the last Economic Outlook, OECD concluded that the global economy is expected to continue expanding at a moderate pace.

 

Read more following the link.

 

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* Liechtenstein & Isle of Man Sign OECD Multilateral Tax Convention

 

Liechtenstein & Isle of Man join the Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters, a multilateral agreement initiated by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and Council of Europe to tackle tax evasion and avoidance between its signatories.

 

Check here and here.

 

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* Canada & NZ Ratify Multilateral Tax Convention

 

Canada and  New Zealand have ratified the multilateral Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters.

 

Please follow the link for more.

 

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* WTO – No Global Trade DealEven the WTO’s members have come “very close to fully agreed texts”, the negotiations on the first global trade deal in the organization’s history come to a dead end.

Read more here.

 

More Trade News in Brief Week 42 (14 – 20 October 2013)

 

* Latvia – OECD Membership

 

The 34 OECD Members have approved a Roadmap to accession for Latvia.

 

Check here for more.

 

 

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* Switzerland Signs Multilateral Convention on Tax Matters

 

Switzerland has become the 58^th country to sign the Multilateral Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters.

 

Follow the link for more.

 

 

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* Isle Of Man First To Sign UK FATCA-Style Agreement

 

The Isle of Man signed an agreement with the United Kingdom extending the automatic disclosure of tax information.

 

Read more here.

 

More Trade News in Brief Week 35 (26 August – 1 September 2013)

*  ICC-IFO – Global Economic Outlook

 

The International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) and the economic research institute IFO published the latest World Economic Survey.

 

Check here for more.

 

Download previous copies of the ICC/Ifo World Economic Survey.

 

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* China Signed Convention on Exchange of Information

 

China signed the Multilateral Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters, an OECD initiative.

 

Please follow the link.

 

More Trade News in Brief – Week 12 (18 – 24 March 2013)

 

* ISO Guidelines for Armed Maritime Guards

 

14 March 2013

 

ISO has developed a guideline for armed maritime guards and to defend the ship navigation from piracy attacks.

 

ISO/PAS 28007:2012, Ships and marine technology – Guidelines for Private Maritime Security Companies (PMSC) providing privately contracted armed security personnel (PCASP) on board ships (and pro forma contract).

 

Check here.

 

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* OECD – Guidelines on Measuring Subjective Well-being

 

 OECD releases Guidelines on Measuring Subjective Well-being to provide advice on the collection and use of measures of subjective well-being.

 

The Guidelines is developed under the OECD’s Better Life Initiative.

 

Please follow the link.

 

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* Cayman & Brazil Sign TIEA

 

Cayman Islands sign a landmark tax information exchange agreement (TIEA) with Brazil.

 

Check here for more.

 

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* Spain & Argentina Sign Fresh DTA

 

Spain and Argentina have signed a new accord aimed at preventing double taxation and tax evasion.

 

Kindly follow the link.

 

More Trade News in Brief – Week 9 (25 February – 3 March 2013)

 

* New ISO Standard for Electronic Signatures

 

The new ISO standard secures the electronic signatures when the documents they authenticate are transferred and processed through different information technology systems.

 

• ISO 14533-1:2012, Processes, data elements and documents in commerce, industry and administration – Long term signature profiles – Part 1: Long term signature profiles for CMS Advanced Electronic Signatures (CAdES)
• ISO 14533-2:2012, Processes, data elements and documents in commerce, industry and administration – Long term signature profiles – Part 2: Long term signature profiles for XML Advanced Electronic Signatures (XAdES)

Check here.

 

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* GVCs and Development: Investment and Value Added Trade in the Global Economy

 

The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) describes in a new report regarding the global value chains (GVC) and its importance in investment and trade.

 

Please follow the link.

 

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* Azerbaijan & Lesotho – New Members of the Global Forum on Tax Transparency

 

The Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes, multilateral framework carried out by both OECD and non-OECD economies, welcomes Azerbaijan and the Kingdom of Lesotho as new members.

 

Click here for more.

 

Read more on the work of the Global Forum here and here.

 

 

More Trade News in Brief – Week 5 (28 January – 3 February 2013)

* OECD – Energy Policy

 

OECD published two reports regarding energy policy, public finances and environmental goals:

 

– Taxing Energy Use

 

– Inventory of Estimated Budgetary Support and Tax Expenditures for Fossil Fuels 2013

 

Please find more here.

 

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* UNCTAD – Global Investment Trends Monitor

 

The UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) released the Global Investment Trends Monitor.

 

The report describes the actual global foreign direct investments (FDI) and its trends.

 

Check here for more.

 

 

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* Jersey Signs Updated DTA’s

 

The Jersey government has signed new comprehensive double tax agreements (DTA’s) with the Isle of Man and Guernsey.

 

Please follow the link.

 

More Trade News in Brief – Week 4 (21 – 27 January 2013)

 

* ILO – Global Employment Trends 2013

 

22 January 2013

 

The International Labour Organization (ILO) has issued a new report on global employment.

 

The Global Employment Trends 2013 is available here.

 

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* Romania – The 118th member of the Global Forum

 

23 January 2013

 

Romania has joined the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes developed by OECD.

 

Check here for more.

 

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* ISO – Information Security and Service Management Standard

 

16 January 2013

 

The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) in collaboration with International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) published a new international standard regarding the information security and service management system.

 

Read more about the new ISO/IEC 27013:2012, Information technology – Security techniques – Guidance on the integrated implementation of ISO/IEC 27001 and ISO/IEC 20000-1 here.

 

More Trade News in Brief – Week 30 (16–22 July 2012)

* South Korea/Switzerland TIE Protocol

 

The revised Double Taxation Agreement (DTA) between South Korea and Switzerland, including provisions on the exchange of tax information (TIE), is to go into effect on July 25, 2012.

 

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* ICC Published a Guide to New Rules of Arbitration

 

The International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) has release “The Secretariat’s Guide to ICC Arbitration” offering a detailed article-by-article commentary on the 2012 Rules and more.

 

Please refer to the next link. 

 

 

 

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* Tunisia and OECD Strengthen Relations

 

Tunisia signs multilateral agreement on fiscal co-operation and strengthens its links with the OECD.

 

More here.