20/11/2020 - Over 100 delegates from 28 countries, as well as international and regional organisations, business, and civil society gathered virtually from 17-19 November 2020 for the Sixth Regional Meeting on BEPS for Eurasian Countries. This meeting offered participants from Eurasia the opportunity to provide their views and input from a regional perspective into the work on the development of international tax standards, while reviewing and monitoring the implementation of BEPS measures under the OECD/G20 Inclusive Framework on BEPS.

 

The event was hosted by the Ministry of Finance of Bulgaria, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the Intra-European Organisation of Tax Administrations (IOTA). The meeting was opened by Ms. Lyudmila Petkova, Director of Tax Policy Directorate in the Bulgarian Ministry of Finance and Mr. Ben Dickinson, Head of the Global Relations and Development Division of the Centre for Tax Policy and Administration at the OECD. It was co-chaired by Ms. Lyudmila Petkova and Ms. Tracey Brooks of the IOTA Secretariat.

 

Participants discussed their experiences, the actions needed and challenges to be overcome in implementing the BEPS measures, including signing and ratifying the Multilateral Instrument (MLI). Given the current situation caused by the global COVID-19 pandemic, countries also took the opportunity to discuss the range of tax administration and fiscal responses to the crisis. The meeting also discussed recent developments in the work aimed at reaching a global, consensus-based solution to the tax challenges arising from the digitalisation of the economy. Participants emphasised the importance of this work.

 

Participants joined roundtable discussions on risk assessment processes using Country-by-Country (CbC) reports (BEPS Action 13) and the implementation of the substantial activities requirements in relation to preferential tax regimes (BEPS Action 5).

 

Updates were provided on the Inclusive Framework’s recent work on transfer pricing as well as on the development of toolkits to support capacity-constrained countries.

 

The international and regional organisations and country participants discussed the range of capacity-building initiatives available to strengthen countries' tax systems and administrations. This included the joint OECD/UNDP initiative Tax Inspectors Without Borders (TIWB) which is currently undergoing expansion into areas such as tax and crime and the use of Automatic Exchange of Information, as well as the OECD’s new e-learning resources on international tax topics.

 

• The outcomes of the meeting can be found in the Co-chairs' Statement.

 

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