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The leaders of the tax community in the Americas came to the Waldorf-Astoria hotel in New York on September 28 to celebrate the cutting-edge tax work done in the region in the past 12 months or so at International Tax Review's first Americas Tax Awards.

The European Commission will propose a "relatively modest solution" to the "problem" of the cross-border treatment of losses when it publishes a communication on the topic in the near future, according to Laszlo Kovacs, commissioner for taxation and customs union. In a speech at a dinner put on by CFE, the confederation of European tax advisers, during its general assembly in London, Kovacs also said the Commission would have to make some choices when it comes to putting forward its proposal on a common consolidated corporate tax base. "By its very nature, a common tax base cannot exactly match the current tax bases of the 25 Member States." he said.

Aleris, an aluminium products and recycling company, has promoted Robert Pence to the position of vice-president for global tax.

Dominique de Villepin, the French prime minister, will give businesses and individuals tax deductions worth more €7 billion ($8.9 billion) before next year's general election

Eugene Sitarz, formerly tax department director, has become vice president, tax at the Ohio utility company

ANZ, an Australian financial services group, and the Australian Tax Office announced on September 29 that they had reached agreement on a Forward Compliance Arrangement to cover the bank's compliance requirements under the goods and services tax, for an initial three-year trial period. ANZ is the first Australian company to enter into such a set-up, which is aimed at large corporates and is considered to be "an alternative" to ATO audits, and "requires a commitment of continuous disclosure to the Tax Office".

The US Treasury and Internal Revenue Service will publish regulations under section 367(b) of the Internal Revenue Code to address certain triangular reorganizations under section 368(a) involving foreign corporations. The announcement responds to requests for guidance "regarding certain triangular reorganizations that are designed to avoid US tax, including tax on the repatriation of a subsidiary's earnings".

The US Congress has still to confirm Eric Solomon as assistant Treasury secretary for tax policy because Senator Max Baucus has refused to withdraw his objection to the nomination. The ranking Democrat on the Finance Committee said he is holding up the approval, as the Treasury has turned down his invitation to Henry Paulson, the Treasury Secretary, to attend a committee hearing in November to elaborate on the Treasury's plans to close the tax gap.

The European Commission has said that it will investigate if Denmark's plans to give carbon dioxide exemptions to companies covered by the EU emissions trading scheme contravene EU law

The commissioner of taxation in Australia has told Foster's, a brewing company, that he may add to the tax assessment for Elders Financing Group, a subsidiary, to include the 1995 to 2004 tax years. Foster's tax bill for the subsidiary could now rise from A$237 million ($177 million) to A$379 million ($283 million). The parent company, which challenged the original disallowance of the tax assessment in May, said it will continue to contest the Australian Tax Office's opinion.