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Despite India today ratifying the Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters, the country is still not ready to become a fully-fledged member of the OECD and must change its attitude to international cooperation.

Type of Agreement Country Country Date Signed Double Tax Avoidance Agreement Protocol Singapore UK February 15 2012 Double Tax Avoidance Agreement Protocol Cyprus Russia Protocol ratifified February 21 2012

Philip Kermode is director of Direct Taxation, Tax Coordination and Economic Analysis and Evaluation at the European Commission. In an exclusive interview, he discusses how the Commission’s policies are making life easier for taxpayers doing M&A work, its efforts to iron out the creases caused by national tax policy and the importance of tax in the functioning of the single market.

Australian prime minister Julia Gillard today saw off a direct challenge to her Labor party leadership from predecessor Kevin Rudd, but must quickly reunite the party if she wants to move forward with her indirect tax policies on carbon and mining.

Type of Deal Value Acquirer Target Adviser to acquirer (tax) Adviser to target (tax) Acquisition $1.25 billion URS Flint Energy Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt Bennett Jones Acquisition $1.09 billion SBA Communications Mobilitie Greenberg Traurig Goodwin Procter Acquisition $139 million AWE Genting Oil Natuna / Sanyen Oil and Gas WongPartnership / Mallesons Stephen Jacques Acquisition Undisclosed Wells Fargo BNP Paribas Sullivan & Cromwell Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom Type of Deal Value Issuer/Borrower Lead managers/arrangers Adviser to issuer/borrower (tax) Adviser to lead managers (tax) Buyout Fund $8.74 billion BC Partners Weil, Gotshal & Manges / Clifford Chance Notes Offering $3 billion Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Merrill Lynch / J.P. Morgan Davis Polk & Wardwell - Rachel Kleinberg, Arie Rubenstein Cravath, Swaine & Moore Secured Term Loan Facility $475 million NXP Morgan Stanley / Merrill Lynch Simpson Thacher & Bartlett Davis Polk & Wardwell - Michael Mollerus Multicuurency Medium-term Note Programme $397 million Cambridge Industrial Trust ANZ Bank WongPartnership - Colin Ong, Trevor Chuan Allen & Gledhill High-yield Bond $300 million MMI International Credit Suisse / J.P. Morgan / UBS WongPartnership Amendment and Restatement of Credit Facilities $280 million Windstream J.P. Morgan Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom Davis Polk & Wardwell - Lucy Farr, Brian Radigan Follow-on Common Stock Offering $103.5 million GSV Capital Citigroup Davis Polk & Wardwell - Mary Conway, Kay Ng

With the US needing to cut its deficit, it is inevitable that talk in some corners is turning to VAT once again, but the fierce political backlash unleashed whenever a politician supports the idea could prove an insurmountable barrier to it ever becoming a reality.

More than 70% of African countries have now adopted a VAT, and it increasingly seems to be the tax of choice for states across the continent looking to generate extra revenue, because it is a hard tax to avoid.

Brazil’s Supreme Court has never issued a final ruling on a tax matter. Glaucia Maria Lauletta Frascino of Mattos Filho, Veiga Filho, Marrey Jr e Quiroga Advogados predicts that 2012 will be the year for this fact to change and argues which case is likely to be the first.

Jack Grocott speaks to Diego Gonzalez-Bendiksen, the head of the Colombian tax office's (DIAN) international audit unit about the future of compliance and why he is scrutinising M&A activity.

Taxand now has a presence in 49 countries, with the inclusion of Corrs Chambers Westgarth – Taxand Australia – into its network.