Belgium needs to shore up its finance, lower tax rates, and introduce better eco tax measures, in order to protect itself from future economic disturbances. Throughout the financial turmoil of recent years, Belgium has been praised for its handling of the downturn, having felt only a relatively minor impact from the disturbances, which was followed by a quick recovery. However the country is now at an impasse, seeing its debt-to-GDP ratio increase to 97 percent, which is putting an indefinite delay on the ... Read More

The Greek Finance Ministry is scrambling to revise the country’s tax system, as the nation faces extensive austerity measures and rising debts. In a statement made in Athens on July 5th, the recently appointed Finance Minister of Greece Evangelos Venizelos said that the country will need to rapidly launch a number of initiatives to stem the country’s worsening recession and return the economy back to growth. Before July 8th Evangelos Venizelos is expected to launch a government committee that will be charged ... Read More

The Prime Minister of Bulgaria has stated that the country will not see a change in its corporate tax rate or economic decision making processes as a result of joining the Euro Plus Pact. While speaking to the parliament of Bulgaria on May 4th, Prime Minister Boyko Borisov defended his party’s intention for the country to join the Euro Plus Pact, saying that the move is beneficial for the country and will not lead to Bulgaria loosing decision making power over its economic ... Read More

The Conservative Party of Canada has won a majority position in parliament in the latest national general election, paving the way for a pro-business policies by the government, and promising tax cuts in the near future. Following the Canadian general election on May 2nd, Stephen Harper has been confirmed as the Prime Minister of the country for the third time, and as the leader of the now majority ruling Conservative Party. Holding the majority position in parliament is a new advantageous reality ... Read More

With less than three months to go in the current Australian financial year, the federal government is being warned to brace itself for tighter financial conditions, as corporate tax revenues are set to be below target for the year. According to the Australian Treasury, after a year of repeated interest rate increases by the Reserve Bank, continued growth in the exchange rate of the national dollar, and natural disasters both locally and among its major trading partners, Australia is set to see an ... Read More

Today new changes to the New Zealand tax system will come into effect, which the government believes will “rebalance” the economy towards higher levels of savings and economic growth. As outlined in the last New Zealand budget, released in May 2010, on April 1st 2011 the country will see several changes to its tax system. Among other changes, the most significant is a 2 percent cut to the corporate tax rate, bringing it to a level of 28 percent. The New Zealand Finance ... Read More

To address the problem of tax revenues floating overseas, the government of Brazil is once again increasing the tax rate on corporate loans and banks’ debt-selling abroad. In an effort to lower the exchange rate of the national currency, on March 29th the President of Brazil Dilma Rousseff announced a decree instating a tax rate increase on international borrowing by Brazilian banks and companies. Active immediately, the decree mandated that overseas loans issued by corporate bodies in Brazil be subjected to a 6 ... Read More