ABOUT 80 delegates from 20 countries and 11 organisations gathered in Bratislava for the third regional meeting of the Inclusive Framework on Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) in the Eastern Europe and Central Asia region. This meeting, coming after the third plenary meeting of the Inclusive Framework held in the Netherlands on 21-22 June 2017, belongs to a new series of regional events that offer participants from different regions in the world the opportunity to provide their views and input into the Inclusive Framework on BEPS from a regional perspective and in a regional setting.

Participants discussed and shared the steps and actions taken in their respective jurisdictions to implement the BEPS measures. The meeting also offered the opportunity to discuss recent developments, with a specific focus on the peer-review mechanisms as well as timelines for the implementation of the minimum standards. The work on toolkits to support low-income countries was extensively illustrated by the representatives of the OECD, IMF and UN, and discussed with the participants to seek their input. The range of capacity-building initiatives to support countries in implementing the BEPS package was also discussed. The meeting offered an opportunity to discuss recent developments in transfer pricing and the tax treaties area, including country-by-country reporting and the tax treaty-related minimum standards. The event also covered the latest developments relating to the Multilateral Instrument, including upcoming training events aimed at supporting countries in their signature and ratification processes and an opportunity for delegates to share their experiences on this process.

The event was hosted by the Ministry of Finance and the Financial Directorate of the Slovak Republic, and organised by the OECD in partnership with the Intra-European Organisation of Tax Administrations (IOTA). Participants included senior officials from ministries of finance and tax administrations from Belarus, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Georgia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Montenegro, Oman, Pakistan, Poland, Romania, the Slovak Republic, Slovenia, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Turkey, Ukraine and the United Arab Emirates, as well as representatives from the International Monetary Fund, the United Nations and the private sector (the Business and Industry Advisory Committee to the OECD (BIAC), Deloitte, KPMG, Ernst & Young, PWC Bratislava, the Slovak Chamber of Tax Advisors and BMB Leitner).