Liechtenstein has completed the necessary tax information agreements to be moved to the Organization for Economic Co-operation Development's (OECD) "White List" of countries. It was reveled on November 11th by Klaus Tschütscher, Liechtenstein Prime Minister, that the nation will be considered as adequately complying with the G20's and OECD's efforts to combat international tax evasion. By signing Tax Information Exchange Agreements (TIEA) with Belgium and Netherlands, Liechtenstein has brought their total agreement number to the required minimum of twelve to be judged ... Read More

Gordon Brown, UK Prime Minister, brought forward a suggestion at the G20 summit, to instate a global foreign currency transaction tax on banks (commonly referred to as a Tobin Tax). The idea created an almost immediate split of opinion within the G20. At the G20 Summit on November 7th, in St. Andrews, Scotland, the UK Prime Minister suggested banks be levied with a tax on their financial transactions. Gordon Brown made it clear that he wishes to see the burden of bank bailouts ... Read More

The United Kingdom looks set to increase efforts to combat tax evaders. Speaking on the 21st of September in regards to the upcoming G20 summit in Pittsburg, Stephen Timms, UK Financial Secretary, has decried tax evasion as being morally wrong, he then proceeded to claim that further efforts will soon be made to "tilt the game back towards honest, hard-working taxpayers". It was announced on the same day that Alistair Darling, Chancellor of the Exchequer, will use his Pre-Budget Report to instate tougher ... Read More

Since the April G20 summit, over 50 new TIEA agreements have been signed across the globe. The London G20 Summit, held on the 2nd of April this year, heralded an unprecedented wave of Tax Information Exchange Agreement (TIEA). In what was described as “revolutionary” by Angel Gurría, OECD Secretary-General, the number of completed TIEAs has almost doubled since their inception in late 2000. Since the G20 summit, and subsequent global push for greater tax transparency and compliance, the following 53 agreements have been ... Read More

The Austrian government has voiced their opinion in favor of instating a Europe spanning transaction tax. Following a meeting of the Austrian Council of Ministers, the Austrian government has voiced its full support of creating a financial transaction tax system spanning the entirety of Europe. The idea was floated to the Austrian government in a paper written by Josef Pröll, Austrian Finance Minister. The aim of the financial transaction tax would be to rein in speculation on the financial markets and create a ... Read More