Anti-corporate tax avoidance measures taking shape

And this is just in the UK

The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) is looking into what action might be taken to curtail corporate tax avoidance schemes, a subject that has been much in the media of late. Leading politicians are responding to outcries coming from commentaries about what little tax is being paid by mega-global businesses on sales of billions, by shuffling profits around the world. This despite protestations from the latter, who say that they are not breaking current law. Among new legislation or measures being studied are tweaking or eliminating double-tax agreements (DTAs) between countries that can allow for neither country taxing a corporation, so-called transfer pricing and improvements to, even>>>the obligation of, exchanging fiscal information among OECD countries, as well as bringing some of the more outrageous off-shore corporate tax facilities to heel.>>>

OECD says Spain will hit deficit reduction target

MADRID (El Pais) The OECD on Wednesday lowered its 2012 growth forecast for Spain but predicted it would still be able to meet its deficit-reduction target for next year after narrowly missing it in 2011.In its latest Economic Outlook for the group of industrialized countries, the Paris-based organization said Spain's GDP should increase by 0.9 percent this year while the public deficit is expected to narrow from 9.2 percent of GDP last year to 6.3 percent, 0.3 points above the government's goal. The agency's output estimate for 2011,>

Spaniards work more than Germans, says OECD report

SPAIN The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has put an end to a mythhe about Spain, according to much of the media on this subject. Spain is not all about sun, beach and fiesta, says (in other words) the OECD's Society at a Glance report for 2011. This country is placed 13th on the list of most hours worked (it says nothing about efficiency), ahead of Germany and Denmark but behind Japan, which heads it. The average time spent working for pay or studying in Spain is 4.6 hours a day (276 minutes), while in Germany they spend 19% less, or 232 minutes, while in Denmark the figure is 225 minutes, or 22.6% less. The list is topped by the Japanese, who work or study for 376 minutes (6.2 hours) each day. followed by the South Koreans (348 mins) and the Mexicans (342 mins), which last destroys another myth. Conversely,>