The Forum on Tax Administration was created in July 2002 by the Committee on Fiscal Affairs (CFA) with the aim of promoting dialogue between tax administrations and of identifying good tax administration practices.  These objectives reflect the high degree of commonality of the systems of taxation in OECD member countries and the potential value of sharing information on countries’ experiences in their efforts to improve taxpayers’ compliance, taxpayer service and administrative efficiency in a rapidly changing environment.

Theme of the 2nd meeting

All revenue bodies are generally required to maximise the overall level of compliance with the tax laws. To achieve this outcome, they are appropriated a finite level of resources, meaning that careful decisions are required as to how and in what ways those resources are to be applied to achieve the best possible compliance outcome.

Revenue bodies have a variety of measures at their disposal to address taxpayers’ non-compliance. However, finding the right mix or balance of such measures is complicated by the varying risks, attitudes and behaviours across the different groupings of taxpayers and knowing which tools are most appropriate for the non-compliance behaviour to be treated. This is the fundamental challenge for all revenue bodies.

An additional consideration is that in many OECD countries a large and increasing number of taxpayers are using professional tax advisors to assist them meet their tax obligations. This adds another dimension to a revenue body’s consideration of the most appropriate set of measures to be applied to improve overall compliance with the laws.

The aim of the second FTA meeting is to have a substantive discussion on these two compliance-related themes:

• Successful strategies for striking the balance between service and enforcement activities
  
• Dealing with tax professionals to achieve improved compliance with the laws

The meeting will also provide an opportunity for participants to hear and discuss progress with current FTA work initiatives and to provide input on emerging tax administration issues that the Forum may want to examine as part of its future work program.

Open discussions involving all participants will be actively encouraged in panels of senior officials and during the formal presentation sessions.