Tax revenues in advanced economies reached a plateau during 2018, ending the trend of annual increases in the tax-to-GDP ratio seen since the financial crisis, according to the OECD’s latest research

The US has signalled strong opposition to OECD plans to introduce a wide-ranging digital tax which would hit multinationals, particularly US IT giants

With two months to go before the 2018/19 self assessment tax return submission deadline, offshore fund investors need to check their tax reporting, before HMRC does, to avoid penalties

The US has warned it may levy 100% trade tariffs on up to $2.4bn (£1.85bn) of French goods, including cheese and champagne, in response to a federal investigation which concluded that France’s digital services tax (DST) discriminates against US companies

Twelve members of the EU’s European Council have voted against plans to introduce tough tax laws to force multinationals to disclose their profits and tax liability in each EU member state

Global action by OECD countries to reduce tax evasion has resulted in a 24% global reduction in foreign-owned bank deposits held in international financial centres (IFC)

Requests from foreign prosecutors to the UK for help with criminal tax investigations have gone up by 44% in the past year

The German finance ministry is to set up a new special unit to tackle large-scale tax fraud in the wake of the so-called Cum-Ex case, which has seen two British investment bankers on trial for their part in an alleged €440m fraud using complex financial transactions to engineer tax losses

The OECD’s proposal to introduce a global minimum corporation tax rate is likely to prove more effective at tackling multinational profit shifting

The EU Directive on administrative cooperation in relation to tax, known as DAC 6, is out for a draft legislation consultation with the first reporting dates scheduled for August 2020. Meg Wilson CTA examines the impact on cross-border tax arrangements

Taxes are high by historical standards accounting for over a third of GDP at 34.4%, increasing almost 7% from the 1950s

Vodafone is warning that it may review its India business if it is not able to resolve outstanding regulatory issues with the Indian authorities

The EU is set to tighten VAT rules to improve fraud detection in cross-border e-commerce transactions and simplify requirements for SMEs

The OECD is consulting on its global anti-base erosion (GloBE) proposal which is designed to prevent multinationals from profit shifting, by developing rules which would effectively create a minimum tax rate worldwide

Multimillionaire Robert Gaines-Cooper is back in the tax courts at the First Tier Tribunal disputing a long-running avoidance case centring on tax liability and domicile issues