Latest Documents

Dispute prevention is a fundamental tenet of tax certainty. Bilateral Advance Pricing Arrangements ('BAPAs'), in a growing number of cases, have successfully contributed to providing advance tax certainty to both taxpayers and tax administrations, ensuring predictability in the tax treatment of international transactions. However, stakeholders have identified obstacles that prevent an optimal use of BAPAs. In continuing with its commitment to advancing the tax certainty agenda, the FTA MAP Forum, in conjunction with the FTA Large Business International Programme, has developed the Bilateral Advance Pricing Arrangement Manual ('BAPAM’) which is intended as a guide for streamlining the BAPA process. The BAPAM provides tax administrations and taxpayers with information on the operation of BAPAs and identifies 29 best practices for BAPAs without imposing a set of binding rules. As part of the BAPAM’s development, tax administrations have committed to assessing whether implementation of these best practices is appropriate, considering the circumstances of their own BAPA programme and the unique features of each BAPA application, so that the best practices are applied appropriately and with enough flexibility to improve current BAPA processes. The BAPAM also highlights what tax administrations expect from taxpayers in the BAPA process to facilitate a cooperative and collaborative process.

The 2020 report Tax Administration 3.0: The Digital Transformation of Tax Administration identified electronic invoicing as one of the projects for further exploration. This report, Tax Administration 3.0 and Electronic Invoicing: Initial Findings, examines the current state of play on electronic invoicing based on a global survey. It also draws out some considerations that administrations exploring possible implementation or reform of such systems may wish to take into account. This report contains a number of case studies and examples from countries which have implemented electronic invoicing. This report was developed by officials from Canada, Chile, China (People’s Republic of), Hungary, Spain, and supported by the Secretariat of the OECD’s Forum on Tax Administration.

Digital Services: Supporting SMEs to get Tax Right, by the OECD Forum on Tax Administration (FTA), is the third report in the FTA’s Supporting SMEs to Get Tax Right Series. This report looks at how digital services can help SMEs comply with their tax obligations, leading to reduced burdens and increased compliance rates. In addition to a number of examples from tax administrations, the report also highlights two detailed case studies. The report was developed by the Canada Revenue Agency with the support of the Forum on Tax Administration’s Community of Interest on SMEs.

The 2020 report Tax Administration 3.0: The Digital Transformation of Tax Administration identified effective digital identity as one of the core building blocks for enabling seamless tax administration as it can help provide a secure connection between the systems of tax administrations and taxpayers. This report, Tax Administration 3.0 and the Digital Identification of Taxpayers: Initial Findings explores the current state of play on digital identity, the different domestic solutions adopted in a number of jurisdictions as well as the challenges related to cross-border processes. It also lays the groundwork for future collaborative work with business and other stakeholders in this area. This report was developed by officials from Australia, Canada, Finland, Indonesia, Spain, Norway, the United States, and supported by the Secretariat for the Forum on Tax Administration.

The report Tax Capacity Building: A Practical Guide to Developing and Advancing Tax Capacity Building Programmes aims to assist tax administrations globally in advancing their tax capacity building programmes by describing good practices, by looking at tools and approaches that improve co-ordination, and by sharing knowledge. While the report primarily focuses on the development of a tax administration’s own capacity-building programme, elements of this report may also prove useful to those providing other forms of assistance, for example, through the support of programmes undertaken by the domestic development agency or through the support of regional or multilateral initiatives.

This report looks at how new developments in tax technology can make it easier for SMEs to comply with their tax obligations, leading to reduced burdens on business and increased compliance rates. In addition to a number of examples from tax administrations, the report also highlights two detailed case studies. The report was developed by the Netherlands’ Tax Administration with the support of the Forum on Tax Administration’s Community of Interest on SMEs.