Payment terms in contracts between all companies, and between companies and governments will be legally stipulated. The current law only requires that the payment terms may not be unreasonable.

Eurozone finance ministers are confident on agreeing a bailout for Cyprus before the end of March.

The bailout could be priced at 17bn euros (£ 15bn). Euro group head Jeroen Dijsselbloem expressed his will to help Cyprus, but the details still need to be discussed.

This is likely to calm down Germany, which had raised concerns about money-laundering on the island. 

 Sylvia Lim, Workers’ Party Chairman, explained on Tuesday that while she acknowledged the move towards a progressive tax system, there is even more possibilities to improve it. 

This year’s Singapore Budget will present tax refunds to both individuals and companies.

In the 2013 Budget there will be a 30% corporate tax rebate which is capped at 30,000 SGD per year of assessment. This will be granted for three years, from 2013 to 2015. It is hoped that this measure will help to ease business costs 

Liechtenstein and Malta have recently finalised negotiations on a bilateral double taxation agreement (Double Taxation Treaty – DTA).