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After years of expansion it seems that the boom may be over for big five tax consultants. Several of the big five have been forced to lay of large numbers of staff in the UK. Ernst & Young started the ball rolling last October when the firm announced that 200 jobs in the UK were to go, including some in the tax department. Next up it was KPMG, which declared in early February that at least 150 tax staff across the UK have to go. And finally on February 12 Pricewaterhouse-Coopers made the decision that 200 tax members of staff in the UK tax practice are to be made redundant.

On December 16 2001, the Ministry of Finance announced tax reform measures for the financial year 2002, including the introduction of the consolidated tax return system (CTRS). The CTRS provides for the taxation of group companies on a consolidated basis. Targeted introduction of the CTRS is due to take place on or after April 2002.

UK industry is suffering from high levels of stamp duty on share sales, according to the head of Britain’s leading industry association

Canada has an aggressive new agency determined to secure its share of international trade revenue. Substantial penalties and exhaustive audits await those who do not get their affairs in order at the earliest possible opportunity. By Hendrik Swaneveld, Martin Przysuski, Venkat Nagarajan and Sam Krishna, BDO Dunwoody LLP, Toronto

Antigua and Barbuda has become the 11th jurisdiction to cooperate with the OECD and commit to addressing harmful tax practices. The Antiguan government wrote to the OECD on February 20 committing to the principles of effective exchange of information in tax matters and transparency. As a result, the country will not feature on the OECD's list of uncooperative tax havens. At the time of going to press, the OECD was only 3 days from its February 28 deadline but still had to receive commitments from the remaining blacklisted countries.

To say that Julie Corkish, the UK tax manager at South African Breweries (SAB) enjoys her job would be an understatement. She is enthusiastic to the point of excited about the work, the people and the company.

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The Enron scandal may give the accounting profession the stimulus required to move to international standards of accounting. While Andersen's future has been much debated, the industry in general is attempting to clean up its act.

Spain has joined the increasing number of EU member countries that have established a special taxation system for shipping companies, based on the tonnage of the ships operated, instead of the standard system.

Relations between the US and the EU could come under further strain after ECOFIN passed a directive on February 12 2002 forcing non-EU sellers of digital products to charge value-added tax (VAT) to EU customers. The directive means that customers in the EU buying digital downloads such as music and films from non-EU sources will have to pay VAT from July 2003. The EU passed the directive to level the playing field between EU companies, which have always had to charge VAT, and non-EU companies, which were exempt. But the US claims that it has skewed the balance the other way and that it is unfair on US companies. The US also claims that it is not in accordance with agreed OECD guidelines on the taxation of e-commerce and indeed may not be in accordance with World Trade Organization (WTO) principles. And in an already troubled economic climate, with uneasy trade relations between the US and the EU, the Treasury department has threatened to take the matter to the WTO.