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Urs Brügger has left Ernst & Young to join PricewaterhouseCoopers.

" 'I won't hold my breath and await the inevitable appointment of John Birt' " is how one correspondent finished their her response to our call for suggestions for a new chairman of the HMRC. Sara Hoare, group tax manager of Wincanton, a supply chain provider, added that the new boss of the UK's tax authority should be "the head of tax of of a FTSE250 company or a partner in a recently started small business". Someone else who might be suitable, she proposed, would have "direct experience of complex personal tax issues and family tax (inheritance tax issues, property, agriculture, forestry etc)". Another likely candidate "would have worked in the past two years at Citizens Advice trying to sort out the tax credits fiasco and the horrific interfaces between the various benefits systems for clients at the sharp end". Sir David Varney's ideal successor would also be someone "still believes in HMRC's right to collect the right amount of tax at the right time".

Ryuta Takaku, formerly with the Japanese government, joined the Baker & McKenzie team on August 1.

The Committee of European Securities Regulators and the US SEC have published a work plan detailing expected standards of financial reporting.

The KPMG survey reports that about 65% of businesses required to e-file this year, will do so by August 31, more than a fortnight before their returns are due. This follows advice from the Internal Revenue Service for companies required to e-file to do so early. All companies with at least $50 million of assets and at least 250 filed tax returns are required to e-file their 2005 returns by September 15.

The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India has asked Palaniappan Chidambaram, the Indian finance minister, to give 100% tax holiday benefits to building companies working on infrastructure projects.

Sadakazu Tanigaki, Japan's finance minister and a prime ministerial candidate in next month's elections for leadership of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, said he would make incremental increases to consumption tax that would raise it from 5% to 10% over the next decade.

The OECD said Australia should build on simplifications to the tax system made in this year's budget. The OECD suggested standard minimum deductions and broadening the goods and services tax base as possible ways to further simplify the code.

Mark Everson, the Internal Revenue Service commissioner, will head the forum on tax administration, part of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development's (OECD's) committee on fiscal affairs.

Bill Bowers, a partner at Fulbright & Jaworski, will become senior counsel at the office of the assistant secretary for tax policy on September 5.