Finance & Economics | WPN World People News

Eight jurisdictions have been removed from the EU's list of non-cooperative jurisdictions for tax purposes, following commitments made at a high political level to remedy EU concerns.

The European Commission is not implementing the Macroeconomic Imbalance Procedure (MIP) in a way which ensures effective prevention and correction of imbalances, according to a new report from the European Court of Auditors. The auditors conclude that the MIP is generally well-designed and based on good-quality analysis. But at some important stages, the process is political rather than technical.

An International Monetary Fund (IMF) staff team led by Ben Kelmanson and Iva Petrova (outgoing and incoming mission chief, respectively) visited Latvia from January 22-28 to review recent macroeconomic developments and start the analytical work ahead of the next annual review of the country’s economy (the Article IV consultation).

The German Government announced its commitment of EUR 23.4 million to support infrastructure work in Somalia. Channeled through the World Bank’s Multi Partner Fund (MPF) the contribution will strengthen municipal planning and implementation capacity to improve access to basic infrastructure.

National Taxpayers Union (NTU) President Pete Sepp released the following statement on Jan 23, 2018 in response to the delay of three major Obamacare taxes included in the Continuing Resolution to fund the government through February 8th.

The National Audit Office (NAO) and University of Birmingham have announced the establishment of the National Audit Office–University of Birmingham Tax Centre – a collaboration to inform improvements in the administration of the tax system.

The IRS is urging victims of last year’s hurricanes, especially those who lived in areas affected by Hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria, to see if they qualify for the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC). According to the IRS, many people whose incomes dropped in 2017 may be eligible to choose a special option for figuring the EITC, a credit for low- and moderate-income workers and families.

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has announced that they will begin accepting federal returns on Jan. 29, one week later than last year, to ensure the security and readiness of its tax processing systems and to assess the potential impact of recent federal tax legislation on 2017 returns. Tax returns are processed by the IRS before they are released to states. The Vermont Department of Taxes is ready to begin processing returns immediately upon receipt starting on Jan. 29th.

A worker sorts a green leaf tea before it reaches the main processing floor at the Kitabi Tea Processing Facility in Rwanda.