In a move to try and protect the country’s aviation industry, the Chinese government has pledged to give those airlines hardest hit by the current economic downturn a CNY2.5bn (USD360m) tax concession.

President-elect Barack Obama outlined his American Recovery and Investment Plan in a speech on Thursday which, as expected, contained plans for a middle class tax credit, incentives for businesses to create jobs and invest, and proposals to boost corporate cash flows, although the proposals have already run into opposition in the Senate.

As the French Senate began its examination earlier this week of President Nicolas Sarkozy’s much-trumpeted reform of public broadcasting, to be funded by two highly controversial taxes, employees from two of the four state-funded channels affected by the shake-up, France 3 and France 2, have begun their strike in protest.

The Russian government is standing firm in the face of increasingly vociferous protests by Russian motorists over its decision to substantially increase duties on imported cars.

The first GBP10,000 of a taxpayers income may become tax-free in the UK under a proposal being considered by Prime Minister Gordon Brown to dramatically raise the UK tax allowance.