Last week in Pretoria, ITIC and the South African Revenue Service (SARS) held a two-day workshop for high-level officials from Kenya, Mozambique, South Africa, and Zambia to discuss the concept and benefits of cooperative compliance and identify ways to apply lessons to different sectors.

As part of ITIC's Joint Capacity Building Program with the Mozambique Revenue Authority (MRA), last week ITIC convened a Tax Roundtable with senior officials from the MRA, Ministry of Economy and Finance, INP, and private sector stakeholders to discuss current and future VAT reforms in Mozambique.

International Monetary Fund

Earlier this week, the IMF released the September issue of its Finance & Development Magazine, "bring[ing] together leading researchers to help explain the withering of productivity gains, how to counter these trends, and how to spark economic dynamism."

The IMF's Public Finance Management blog also recently published an article highlighting the importance of Financial Management Information Systems (FMIS) and the "significant and innovative IT reforms [implemented by OECD countries] in the past, which have underpinned the development of strong and modern PFM frameworks in most countries."

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development

Yesterday, the OECD released Distributional impacts of energy transition pathways and climate change, a new report that "reviews the literature on the distributional consequences of climate change and mitigation and transition pathways."

African Tax Administration Forum

Last week, the African Tax Administration Forum (ATAF) released the Toolkit for Joining the African Tax Administration Forum Agreement on Mutual Assistance In Tax Matters (AMATM).

Last week, ITR and Deloitte released the Transfer Pricing Change Management Guide 2024, an annual publication that includes "transfer pricing insights across several industries, with analysis from Deloitte’s transfer pricing industry experts and factoring in global economic changes."

Tax Reform in ARGENTINA -- Bloomberg Tax featured an article highlighting the latest tax reform initiatives introduced in Argentina "with the aim of attracting foreign direct investment and reversing longstanding economic stagnation."

BAHRAIN Tax Updates -- A recent EY Global Tax News Update provided a detailed overview of the latest minimum top-up-tax legislation published by Bahrain's National Bureau for Revenue. 

Additionally, the IMF announced yesterday that Bahrain successfully launched its National Summary Data Page (NSDP), "a key recommendation of the IMF’s Enhanced General Data Dissemination System (e-GDDS) to publish essential macroeconomic and financial data."

BRAZIL Tax Updates -- Two recent EY Global Tax News Updates provided more information on the public consultation launched by the Brazilian Federal Revenue Service "to collect comments and suggestions on the proposed regulations to implement the transfer pricing legislation," as well as newly proposed legislation submitted to Congress that would "increase certain income taxes as part of its efforts to avoid increasing the budgetary deficit."

CAMBODIA Launches GDT e-Administration -- A recent KPMG TaxNewsFlash provided a brief overview of the new e-Administration application recently launched by Cambodia's General Department of Taxation (GDT).

Czech Republic Proposes Top-Up Tax -- A recent KPMG TaxNewsFlash reported that the Czech Republic's Ministry of Finance recently published a "draft amendment to the law introducing a top-up tax to implement the EU directive on global minimum tax...[which includes changes to the] deadlines for filing top-up tax information returns and tax returns, simplified obligations when filing information returns, and changes to ensure the qualified status of Czech top-up tax."

Pillar 2 in KAZAKHSTAN -- Grata International recently published a detailed overview of the efforts underway in Kazakhstan to implement Pillar 2.

OECD Economic Survey of MALAYSIA -- Last week, the OECD released its latest Economic Survey of Malaysia, noting how "growth in Malaysia has remained robust...[and that] economic development has held up supported by strong domestic demand, low unemployment and moderate inflation."

MOLDOVA Amends Fiscal Code -- KPMG released a detailed overview of the latest corporate income tax, VAT, and transfer pricing rules amendments recently introduced in Moldova.

PERU Tax Updates -- KPMG provided detailed summaries of the latest tax updates in Peru, including the implementation of VAT on the cross-border provision of digital services and the import of intangible goods and the newly issued guidance on registration of nonresident withholding agents of VAT on cross-border provision of digital services.

PHILIPPINES Announces 2025 Budget -- Regfollower provided more information on the 2025 Budget recently presented by the Philippines' Department of Finance, including a strong emphasis on "digitalization to enhance the efficiency of tax administration."

SAUDI ARABIA Announces 15th Wave of E-Invoicing -- A recent EY Global Tax News Update reported on the latest criteria for "taxpayers to be included in the 15th wave of Phase 2 e-invoicing integration" announced by Saudi Arabia's Zakat, Tax and Customs Authority.

SERBIA Amends VAT Rulebook -- A recent KPMG TaxNewsFlash provided a detailed overview of the new amendments to the rulebook on (VAT) recently adopted by Serbia's Ministry of Finance.

SINGAPORE Releases Public Consultation Comments -- Regfollower provided more information on the "Summary of Responses to the Public Consultation on the Draft Multinational Enterprise (Minimum Tax) Bill and the Income Tax (Amendment) Bill 2024" recently released by Singapore's Ministry of Finance.

SWITZERLAND Sets Pillar 2 Implementation Date -- Regfollower provided more information on the recent announcement by the Swiss Federal Council declaring that "the Pillar 2 income inclusion rule (IIR) will be effective from 1 January 2025...but the undertaxed profits rule (UTPR) will not be implemented at this time."

TAIWAN Announces Alternative Minimum Tax Increase -- Regfollower recently reported that Taiwan will raise the alternative minimum tax from 12% to 15% for large MNEs in 2025 "as part of its alignment with the Pillar Two global minimum tax framework."

THAILAND Cabinet Approves STTR MLI Letter of Intent -- Regfollower provided a brief update regarding the recent approval by Thailand's Council of Ministers to sign the Multilateral Convention for the Pillar Two Subject-to Tax Rule (STTR MLI).

New UK Digital Trade Paper -- Yesterday, the OECD released Digital Trade and Labour Markets in the United Kingdom, a new report in its Trade Policy Papers series that highlights the "pivotal importance...of access to foreign markets and export opportunities in digital services" for the UK.

IMF Mission Updates -- Over the past two weeks, the IMF released new mission updates for: Latvia; Saudi Arabia; Tonga; Turikye; and Vanuatu.