During the sixteenth session of the United Nations Committee of Experts on International Cooperation in Tax Matters last week in New York, the Subcommittee on Extractive Industries Taxation Issues released theHandbook on Extractive Industries Taxation.
ITIC, as well as some members of ITIC's Oil & Gas Taxation and Regulatory Dialogue, participated in the Subcommittee process that has developed the Handbook over the past several years. This Handbook will provide developing countries with critical guidance on tax issues unique to Extractive Industries.
OECD Releases Peer Reviews of the Country-by-Country Reporting Initiative
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) recently released the first peer review report for the Country-by-Country (CbC) reporting initiative, which "reflects the outcome of the first review which focused on the domestic legal and administrative framework. It contains the review of 95 jurisdictions which provided legislation or information pertaining to the implementation of CbC Reporting." [More Information]
IMF Completes Three Article IV Consultations
Russian Federation
The IMF released the Staff Concluding Statement following its 2018 Article IV Consultations with the Russian Federation. The Statement highlighted that "the Russian economy medium-term outlook remains weak;” "its weight in the global economy is shrinking;" and "a continued transition to a neutral monetary policy stance is appropriate." [Full Statement]
Lithuania
The IMF Staff Concluding Statement following 2018 Article IV Consultations with Lithuania noted that although the "Lithuania economy is performing well...[the country] needs ambitious reforms to transition from a low-wage economy to a high-productivity one and reaccelerate convergence toward Western European living standards." [Full Statement]
Saudi Arabia
Earlier this month, a team of IMF experts visited Saudi Arabia for the 2018 Article IV Consultation. The End-of-Mission press release noted that, "The primary challenges for the government going forward are to sustain the implementation of the bold structural changes that are underway, meet the medium-term fiscal targets it has set, and resist the temptation to re-expand government spending in line with higher oil prices." [Continue reading]
This "new treaty and commentary update[s] the UN’s 2011 model tax treaty, reflecting changes approved in April 2017 by the UN Committee of Experts on International Cooperation in Tax Matters." [More Information]
GST in India - An Update
ITIC Advisor Sumit Dutt Majumder recently wrote an article for India Legal about two "momentous decisions" made by the GST Council earlier this month "with respect to the ownership and equity structure of GST Net (GSTN)...and the filing of returns." [Full Article]
South Africa Releases Draft MAP Guide for Comments
Interested parties may provide comments on the draft Guide until 15 June.
UN Digital Economy Update
MNEtax.comreported this week that the UN Committee of Experts on International Cooperation in Tax Matters "will not wait for the OECD to reach final conclusions on the taxation of the digital economy before moving ahead with its work in the area." [Continue reading]
