KPMG flags U.S., Swiss tax changes in latest weekly roundup

The U.S. rules that will hit compliance calendars first

The sharpest near-term action item in KPMG’s April 13 to 17 tax roundup is the U.S. package of proposed rules tied to the One, Big, Beautiful Bill Act. The proposal would raise the business payment information reporting threshold to $2,000 and cut the deductible percentage of wagering losses to 90% after 2025. Public comments and hearing requests are due by June 16, 2026, which means tax teams do not have much runway if they want to shape the final rules or prepare clients for the operational change.

That matters because the Internal Revenue Service instructions for Forms W-2G and 5754 already point in the same direction for calendar year 2026. For payments made in 2026, the minimum reporting threshold is $2,000, and the IRS says reporting and backup-withholding thresholds will be adjusted annually for inflation after 2025. In practical terms, that creates an immediate need to revisit withholding workflows, reporting systems, and client-facing explanations before year-end reporting starts to tighten up.

The wagering-loss change is especially important for advisory conversations because it is not just a technical tweak. The reduction in deductibility is part of a broader law signed on July 4, 2025, as Public Law 119-21, so it will sit inside the larger set of 2025 federal tax-law changes that firms are already translating into compliance steps, model updates, and client alerts. For KPMG professionals, the issue is less about whether the law exists and more about how fast client systems can absorb the change without creating mismatches between payroll-style reporting, gambling documentation, and deduction planning.

Why Switzerland’s Pillar Two guidance should be on every cross-border team’s radar

Switzerland is the other clear pressure point in the roundup, and the signal there is about implementation discipline. The Federal Tax Administration has set effective dates for five OECD Pillar Two safe harbor rules and issued interim instructions on deferred tax assets. At the same time, it has paused final assessments involving those assets until the Federal Council rules on pending amendments. For multinational groups, that combination means there is still movement underneath the framework, even if the headline architecture of Pillar Two is already in place.

The most consequential detail for group tax functions is Switzerland’s support for central filing. Its Pillar Two materials now point to the GloBE Information Return, reflecting a system designed to let multinational enterprise groups use a central filing mechanism and support correct implementation of the OECD global minimum tax framework. That is not just a procedural note. It affects how tax data is gathered, who owns the filing timeline, and how local teams coordinate with headquarters when the group is trying to avoid duplicate work or inconsistent positions across jurisdictions.

For KPMG’s Swiss and global Pillar Two specialists, the practical takeaway is that deferred tax assets need a fresh review. The pause on final assessments signals uncertainty that can affect reserve positions, audit support, and client questions about whether existing models still hold once the Federal Council finishes its review. In a busy-season environment, that can quickly turn into a chain of work across provision, transfer pricing, and reporting teams.

Malta’s R&D deduction and registration changes create planning questions, not just policy headlines

The roundup also points to Malta’s Budget Measures Implementation Act, 2026, which introduces a 175% income tax deduction for qualifying research and development expenditures. That headline number alone is enough to draw attention from tax planning teams, but the act also changes VAT registration rules for non-Maltese entities and related-party transaction rules. Those are the kinds of changes that can affect both the front end of deal planning and the back end of compliance.

A superdeduction of 175% will immediately prompt questions about eligibility, documentation, and how aggressively clients can align R&D spending with tax planning. The VAT and related-party changes widen the impact beyond the corporate income tax file. If a cross-border group has services, IP, or procurement flows touching Malta, the issue can spill into indirect tax, intercompany pricing, and entity-level registration decisions.

For advisers, the point is not simply that Malta is changing its rules. It is that the package touches multiple parts of the tax function at once, which is exactly the sort of development that creates extra work for client teams trying to keep their compliance calendar and transaction support aligned.

Disaster relief in Mississippi is a reminder that tax teams still need a state-level response path

The roundup also includes IRS relief for taxpayers affected by a winter storm in Mississippi. Relief items like this can look minor beside Pillar Two or federal reporting changes, but they still create immediate client questions about filing timing, payment deadlines, and whether state or federal extensions apply. Tax departments that support local payroll, small-business, or individual compliance work need a quick way to map disaster relief into their normal filing schedules.

That matters inside a firm like KPMG because state and local relief often lands in the middle of larger filing work, not outside it. A taxpayer dealing with storm damage is not usually asking for a policy memo. They want to know what deadline moved, what forms are covered, and what proof is needed if an examiner later asks why a return was late.

The broader message for tax teams is coordination, not just reading updates

The roundup’s coverage of transfer pricing and trade and customs updates across Kuwait, Canada, the European Union and other jurisdictions reinforces the same point: the work is increasingly interconnected. U.S. reporting changes may need coordination with global data gathering. Swiss Pillar Two rules may affect deferred tax models. Malta’s law can alter entity structuring and related-party documentation. Disaster relief can interrupt local filing schedules. None of these items sits neatly in one silo.

For KPMG tax professionals, that is exactly why a weekly roundup matters. It is not a passive digest. It is a triage list for what may turn into client emails, filing updates, audit support, or technical consultations before the next reporting cycle closes. The firms that move fastest will be the ones that treat these changes as operational workstreams, not isolated headlines.