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A tax working group has been established in New Zealand that aims to assist the government in considering the key tax policy challenges facing the country.

Stephen Hoyle, Helen Maddaford and Andrew Martel have joined Ernst & Young's financial services tax practice in London as partners. Hoyle comes into the international tax services team from Deutsche Bank, where he was managing director in the bank's structured capital markets division. He was previously a tax partner at Freshfields. Mad-daford was formerly a director in Barclays Capital and before that a senior executive in Barclays Tax. She joins business tax services and will lead the tax controversies team. And Martel joins the business tax services team from CQS, the alternative asset management group, where he was head of tax. He used to be a partner at Deloitte.

US law firm DLA Piper has expanded its international tax practice with the appointment of three transfer pricing specialists: two principal economists and one of counsel. Clarke Norton has 17 years transfer pricing experience and was formerly chief economist of the Inland Revenue Service's Advance Pricing Agreement Program.

Lewis Steinberg has left UBS to join Linklaters as co-head of the US practice and head of US tax.

Kevin Dolan has left Merrill Lynch, where he was a senior vice-president and senior tax counsel, to join Shearman & Sterling as of counsel. Before his nine years at the bank, Dolan was head of Weil Gotshal & Manges' Washington tax practice and also worked in governmenet for the Internal Revenue Service, the Treasury and the SEC.

Sean Shimamoto Sean Shimamoto and Steven Matays have become partners of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom's tax practice. Shimamoto, in the firm's Washington DC, office, represents major corporations and private equity funds on US federal income tax matters, including M&A, debt and equity offerings and joint ventures. His practice also covers tax matters in the energy sector. He also advises clients on tax matters in the energy sector, particularly involving renewable energy projects.

Patrick Sinewe, who specialises in restructuring and group tax law as well as on M&A, leveraged buy-out and private equity related tax issues has become a partner of Bird & Bird in Frankfurt.

The government hopes the draft tax code will make the tax system in India simpler and fairer. Companies should be aware, however, that provisions such as a branch profits tax and a general anti-avoidance rule could have significant effects on their Indian operations

Taxpayers have some time to plan for changes to the check-the-box rules, which will affect income deferral. But don't leave it too late, says James Wall of Nexia International member firm JH Cohn

The report of the Irish commission on taxation may not be acted upon immediately, but it still produced some worthwhile pro-business recommendations says Olivia Lynch, president of the Irish Taxation Institute