Handbook - Developing Partnerships with Non-OECD Economies - Section 1.3

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1.3 Partnership Activities

The OECD’s tax partnerships are based on the expertise of the OECD’s Committee on Fiscal Affairs. The Committee is a world leader in developing tax policy on tax treaties, transfer pricing, international tax avoidance and evasion, exchange of information and improving access to bank information, VAT compliance, tax administration and taxation of financial innovations/institutions. These areas form the core of the partnership dialogue, usually delivered in the form of week-long events at various locations globally.

Some of the main topics for these events are described below. A general description of events planned for 2006 and further background information can be found in the Appendix of this handbook.

Issues	Objective	Focus	Standards/ Guidelines	Benefits
Tax Treaties	Develop with the partners the skills for the negotiation and application of bilateral tax treaties	Negotiation of tax treaties, detailed examination of tax treaty provisions and issues in their implementation	OECD Model Tax Convention on Income and on Capital	Expanding tax treaty networks, Improved capacity in negotiation and treaty application
Transfer Pricing Guidelines	Encourage the adoption and effective implementation of OECD Transfer Pricing Guidelines	General principles, implementation and administrative issues in the OECD approach to transfer pricing problems	OECD Transfer Pricing Guidelines	Transparent, effective and efficient administration of transfer pricing problems and disputes
Exchange of Information	Examination of the legal basis and operational aspects of exchange of taxpayer information between countries	Provide practical guidance on how to improve effective exchange of information and provide an insight into the use of new technologies developed for this purpose	OECD Exchange of Information Instruments and related guidelines	Improvement of international co-operation to combat tax avoidance and evasion
Tax Incentives	Survey the types of incentives and issues in their design and administration	Tax incentives in corporate and personal income taxes and consumption taxes, are examined with practical examples taken from OECD countries and Non-OECD Economies		Assist countries to review these tax incentives so as to minimise potential economic distortions
Tax Policy Workshop	Examine policy considerations relevant to senior tax policy makers	A range of tax policy issues depending on areas of interests: linkages between taxation and domestic and foreign direct investments, stock options, environmental tax reforms, taxation and savings, taxation and employment		Develop a balanced approach to tax policies taking into considerations policy goals such as efficiency, equity, neutrality and effectiveness
Tax Policy Modelling	Examine techniques used to model the revenue implications of tax policy options	Providing participants with working knowledge of micro-simulation principles and techniques in modelling the revenue impacts of tax policy changes		Establish a network of policy makers who are capable of modelling the revenue impacts of tax policy changes.
International Tax Avoidance and Evasion	Examine tax avoidance and evasion problems in international transactions and possible responses	Examine common structures used to avoid and evade taxes and examine strategies that tax administration could adopt to counteract these structures	OECD approaches to Effective Exchange of Information; OECD report on " Improving Access to Bank Information for Tax Purposes"	Develop ways to protect a country’s tax base through improving access to bank information, effective exchange of information and other international ‘good practices’ activities
Auditing Bribes Paid by Businesses	Present the OECD Bribery Awareness Handbook and OECD recommendation on non deductibility of bribes	Provide legal background information on bribes and practical tips such as the indicators of bribery, interviewing techniques and examples of bribes identified in tax audits	OECD Bribery Awareness Handbook	Increase tax examiners awareness of the pitfalls of bribery
Auditing Multinational Enterprises	Examine the legal and practical issues that a country is likely to face when auditing multinational enterprises	Administrative provisions, information requirements and the audit process needed to facilitate the work of tax examiners. It also deals with complex international taxation issues that could arise in the taxation of multinational enterprises		Provide the partners with a frame of reference for issues that they are likely to encounter when dealing with multinational enterprises
VAT Compliance	Provide an understanding of how consumption tax law is developed and administered and how the tax operates at the international level	Application of consumption tax to international trade, place of supply issues for both goods and services and more specific issues such as new means of transport, e-commerce, the financial services sector and telecommunications; Approaches to administration of consumption taxes in respect of abuses of systems	Consumption Tax Guidance Series	Improved policy and administration of consumption tax and encourage greater simplification and cohesion between countries’ systems
Management and Control of Large Taxpayers	Discuss issues involved in managing and operating large taxpayer units.	Operation of large taxpayer units as a key means of increasing control over the largest taxpayers and improving taxpayer compliance	Tax Administration Guidance	Improved effectiveness and efficiency in the administration of large taxpayers.
Taxation of Financial Instruments	Explore how tax systems need to be modernised to adapt to the new global financial and capital markets	Examine appropriate tax policies toward innovative financial instruments that encourage the development of financial innovations and provide sufficient protection to the tax base	Guidelines on the Attribution of Business Profits to PE of Enterprises Carrying on Global Trading of Financial Instruments	Encourage the development of tax policies that promote the development of financial innovations, but at the same time protect the countries’ tax base against avoidance and evasion practices made possible by financial market developments
Taxation of Financial Markets	Explore key domestic and international taxation issues in the financial market activities	Examine the policy and practical problems in the taxation of collective investment institutions, banks and financial intermediaries, insurance activities and innovative financial transactions	Guidelines on the Attribution of Business Profits to PE of Banks; Guidelines on the Attribution of Business Profits to PE of Enterprises Carrying on Global Trading of Financial Instruments	Encourage the development of tax policies and practices that promote financial market developments
Auditing Small and Medium Sized Enterprises	Discuss strategies to fight domestic tax abuses and the roles of tax audits, including practical issues in tax audit procedures, techniques and tools	Examine all aspects of tax audits, including risk identification, resource planning, communications with the taxpayer, the preparation of an audit, the audit work programme, the use of common practical audit tools and techniques, auditing of electronic records, reporting and final assessment.		Promote a sound understanding of tax audits and their roles in dealing with the problems of the shadow economy and encourage the adoption of “good” audit practices