ITICnet.org Weekly Round-Up

9 March

OECD Releases Countering Illicit Trade Report

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) released a new study entitled, " Governance Frameworks to Counter Illicit Trade " at a recent EU-OECD High Level Seminar on Illicit Trade held at the European Commission in Brussels.

This new policy study "focuses on the ineffective penalties and sanctions around the shipping of illicit goods, the poor screening of small parcels and the insufficient control over goods passing through free trade zones." [ More Information ]

IMF Concludes Staff Visit to Kenya

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) recently completed an official visit to Kenya "to conduct the 2018 Article IV consultation and hold discussions on continued IMF support to Kenya, including the authorities' request for an extension of the current [Stand-By Arrangement] SBA."

In the team's end-of-mission press release, team leader Benedict Clements noted that "annual growth could rise further to 6½ percent within a couple of years, provided that the authorities continue economic reforms, including reducing the fiscal deficit and amending interest rate controls." [ Continue reading ]

Brazil Announces Collaboration with OECD to Align Transfer Pricing Regime

The Government of Brazil and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) recently announced a joint 15-month program to thoroughly review "Brazil's international tax and transfer pricing legislation to better align it with OECD guidelines and recommendations."

This joint project, which "will likely result in significant, taxpayer-favorable changes to Brazil's transfer pricing system," comes nearly a year after Brazil's formal request to join the OECD in May 2017. [ Continue reading ]

Kazakhstan Announces New System to Track Alcohol and Oil Production

In response to the Government decree "On designation of operator for metering devices data in the field of ethyl alcohol and alcohol products production, and oil products and turnover," Kazakhstan recently launched "an automatic system to track the production and distribution of alcohol and oil products," with such counters currently being installed at alcohol production facilities, oil refineries, and petrol stations. [ More Information ]

ITIC Advisor Liz Allen also wrote about this new system on ITIC's blog .

OECD Launches Program in Egypt to Enhance Domestic Resource Mobilization

Earlier this week in Cairo, the Ministry of Finance of Egypt and OECD launched a new EU-funded program on "Enhancing Domestic Resource Mobilization in Egypt through a better tax and exchange of information system."

"As part of the programme and the current visit to Egypt, the OECD will hold bilateral meetings with senior representatives from the Ministry of Finance and Egyptian Tax Authority (ETA), Members of Parliament, and business representatives to discuss the international tax reforms in Egypt. Tax officials from the Ministry and ETA will also participate in a workshop facilitated by the OECD on the implementation of measures to tackle BEPS in Egypt." [ More Information ]

IMF Releases Staff Concluding Statement for Qatar

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) released a Staff Concluding Statement following a staff visit to Qatar for consultations under Article IV. The staff's report includes recent developments and outlook in Qatar; fiscal policy; monetary, financial sector, and exchange rate policies; and private sector development, economic diversification and macroeconomic statistics.

The full Qatar Staff Concluding Statement is available on the IMF's website .

Anguilla Becomes 113th Jurisdiction to Join BEPS

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) announced that Anguilla became the latest jurisdiction to join the Inclusive Framework on BEPS, bringing the total number of countries to 113. More information the framework, including the full list of participating countries and jurisdictions, is available on the OECD's website.