Tax Administrations in an Electronic World, 4-6 June 2001

Tax Administrations in an Electronic World
Montreal, 4-6 June 2001

Tax authorities must provide a fiscal environment within which electronic commerce can flourish and benefit citizens around the world, but also one that enables governments to raise the revenues voted for by their citizens. Companies and tax authorities alike must exploit new technologies to improve the service provided to their clients. Government officials from over 100 countries met in Montreal (4-6 June) to discuss how to develop and implement such a taxation framework. The conference was hosted by the Canada Customs and Revenue Agency, and co-sponsored by the C.A.T.A., C.I.A.T., C.R.E.D.A.F., I.O.T.A. and the O.E.C.D. Representatives of the IMF, UN, World Bank, Regional Development Bank and the EU also participated.

Statement at the close of the conference.

The following text is being issued at the close of the Conference Tax Administrations in an Electronic World by the conference's five co-sponsoring organizations, the Commonwealth Association of Tax Administrators (CATA), the Inter-American Center of Tax Administrations (CIAT); le Centre de Rencontres et d' Etudes des Dirigeants des Administrations Fiscales (CRÉDAF); the Intra-European Organisation of Tax Administrations (IOTA) and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). The Conference was held in Montreal from June 4 to June 6, and was hosted by the Canada Customs and Revenue Agency (CCRA).

Representatives From Over 100
Tax Administrations Examine the Challenges of Electronic Commerce

Montreal, June 6, 2001.

Tax administrations have a key role to play in providing a fiscal climate within which electronic commerce can flourish while maintaining a fair and predictable tax system. Tax administrations should seize the opportunities offered by new technologies to improve the service they provide to taxpayers.

Representatives from tax administrations from over 100 countries came together this week in Montreal to discuss how to develop and to implement such a taxation framework. The conference was co-sponsored by the world's major organizations representing tax administrations CATA, CIAT, CRÉDAF, IOTA and the OECD. It was hosted by the Canada Customs and Revenue Agency (CCRA) and representatives from the International Monetary Fund, United Nations and other interested organizations participated.

The conference was opened by the Honourable Martin Cauchon, Minister of National Revenue. "In an increasingly globalised economy tax administrators need to understand both the technology that underpins the new economy and the impact of new business models on the operation of tax systems around the world," the Minister told Conference participants.

The co-sponsors of the meeting set themselves ambitious objectives at the outset. Participants agreed that these objectives had been fully met. "There was general agreement that the conference should be the start of an ongoing process by which governments work together to improve their tax systems, to exploit the opportunities offered by the new technologies to improve taxpayer service and to enable governments to raise revenues in an effective and equitable way," said Mr. Etcheberry, the President of CIAT. The presidents and chairs of the other sponsoring organizations shared this view.

The ongoing dialogue will focus on four related areas:

Identifying best practices in the area of taxpayer service;
Improving the capacity of tax administrations to identify taxpayers engaged in e-commerce and to assess and collect tax due;
The implication of consumption taxes to cross-border e-commerce transactions; and
Direct taxation with exchange of information
The attached fact sheet provides an outline of the strategy that will be followed to take forward these discussions.

For media information, contact:

CATA
(Commonwealth Association of Tax Administrators)
Zahir Kaleem
Executive Director
c/o Commonwealth Secretariat
Marlborough House, Pall Mall, London SW1Y 5HX
tel: 020 7747 6473
cata@commonwealth.int

CIAT
(Inter-American Center of Tax Administrations)
Jorge Cosulich Ayala
Executive Secretary
P.O. Box 2129 - 9A, Panama
Republic of Panama
tel: (507) 265-2766
JCosulich@ciat.org

CRÉDAF
(Centre de Rencontres et d' Etudes des Dirigeants des Administrations Fiscales)
Alain Gerbeaud
Sécretaire général
27, rue Blomet
75015 Paris
FRANCE
credaf@wanadoo.fr

IOTA
(Intra-European Organisation of Tax Administrations)
Raits Averats, Executive Secretary
Rumbach Sebestyen St. 14
1075 Budapest
Hungary
tel: +36.1.4783030
iota@iota.hu

OECD
(Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development)
Jeffrey P. Owens
Head of Centre for Tax Policy and Administration
2, rue André-Pascal
75775 Paris Cedex 16, France
tel : +33(0) 1 45 24 91 08 jeffrey.owens@oecd.org