International aid development projects could be benefited with billions of extra funding if a minuscule tax were to be added to the current foreign exchange trade framework. In excess of USD 30 billion could be raised annually to fund international development projects, if an international consensus was reached to impose a 0.005 percent Current Transaction Tax (CTT). The idea was raised last week in Globalizing Solidarity : The Case for Financial Levies, a report prepared by the Leading Group, under commission of 12 ... Read More

UK taxpayers could miss out on an as much as GBP 3.9 billion worth of tax credits in the coming fiscal year, unless they take action now. With only 10 days left ahead of the July 31st tax credit deadline, nearly one quarter of UK pensioners and a tenth of entitled low-income families are set to forfeit billions in “free money” by neglecting to make necessary claims with the HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC). According to estimates published by Unbiased, a UK ... Read More

The UK Government is set to create a new think-tank charged with investigating and recommending reform changes to the nation’s tax system, which is currently deemed too complex to be optimally efficient. On July 20th the Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne is scheduled to officially announce the creation of a national Office for Tax Simplification (OTS). The OTS will be charged with investigating and reporting on issues within the UK tax system, with the ultimate aim of forming recommendations reforming and ... Read More

Growth in Egypt’s economic activity and effectiveness of recent tax reforms have led to an extra EGP 12 billion (approx. USD 2.11 billion) in the Government’s budget during the previous fiscal year. Throughout the 2009 fiscal year, the Egyptian economy grew by an estimated 5.2 percent, leading to a 6 percent increase in tax revenues, when compared to the previous year. The latest figures were released by Youssef Boutros-Ghali, Finance Minister of Egypt, in a media-statement on July 18th. According to his statement, ... Read More

UK businesses face a far greater tax burden than the headline tax rate would suggest, possibly leading to reduced levels of entrepreneurship and even subdued growth. The UK Institute of Directors (IoD) has voiced its concern over the country’s tax treatment of businesses, claiming that almost five months of a company’s profits will be paid to the state every year. UK businesses currently incur a 28 percent corporate tax rates, or a special 21 percent tax rate for small businesses. Additionally, companies also face ... Read More

Japanese taxpayers could experience a significant increase to the national Sales Tax rate in the near future, after the International Monetary Fund called for fiscal reforms. Japan’s political climate has been turbulent recently following the Prime Minister’s Sales Tax rate hike proposal. Naoto Kan claimed that a doubling of the current 5 percent Sales Tax rate would be an ideal step in addressing the nation’s ballooning debts, which have reached 218 percent of GDP. The tax issue was seen as a significant reason ... Read More

Total tax revenue collections for US States have shown the first rise in broad-level collections since the third quarter of 2008. However, the increase is not indicative of an overall economic recovery, and was caused predominantly by tax rate increases. On July 13th the Nelson A. Rockerfeller Institute of Government released its latest State Revenue Report. The publication showed that state’s overall tax revenues experienced a 2.5 percent increase in the first quarter of 2010, compared to the same period last year, although ... Read More