Latest Documents

This study introduces the concept of 'Tax Compliance by design'. It describes how revenue bodies can exploit developments in technology and the ways in which modern SMEs organise themselves to incorporate tax compliance into the systems businesses use to manage their financial affairs.

Many revenue bodies have been developing strategies and approaches to improve the tax collection and recovery processes, so that they are more effective and cost less. Very promising and proven new practices have emerged, which can deliver spectacular improvements in performance in tax collection and recovery. This report provides a comprehensive overview of the best practices in tax debt management, with a particular emphasis on how to better differentiate debtors when deciding how to best secure payment and what can be done to ensure that payment issues are considered earlier in the compliance and collection process.

This study provides practical guidance to revenue bodies wishing to enhance and enrich their existing measures with timely measures of compliance outcomes. The study shares experiences of what has worked for revenue bodies, what challenges have been faced and how they might be overcome.

Building on prior work that resulted in the practical guide Managing Service Demand, this report explores the strategies revenue bodies can use to improve take-up of self-service channels in the context of a proposed future service experience for individuals, businesses and tax intermediaries.

Revenue bodies are increasingly focusing on improving their understanding of taxpayers and taking advantage of opportunities for collaboration where win-win situations exists. This is not least true for the large and heterogeneous SME segment, which in many countries has proven difficult and costly to administer with traditional approaches. This Forum on Tax Administration study provides inspiration and guidance to revenue bodies wishing to explore the potential for improving outcomes, reducing costs, improving services and generating other benefits by engaging and involving SME taxpayers and stakeholders. The study provides a conceptual framework illustrating the benefits and situating the approach in the context of public sector reform, technological developments and trends in compliance risk management. It further provides a comprehensive review of current and emerging practices across the areas of information and guidance, compliance risk management, and systemic solutions. Finally the study provides guidance to support successful implementation. The study finds that while revenue bodies have substantial experience to build on, there is also potential for more systematic, far-reaching and potentially transformative approaches. A key barrier in this regard is that performance metrics relying extensively on output measures channel resources and attention away from innovative approaches that work back from the desired ultimate outcomes.

This report examines the relationship between large business taxpayers and revenue bodies, five years on from the publication of the FTA’s Study into the Role of Tax Intermediaries. The study recommended that revenue bodies develop a relationship based on trust and co-operation. The report is based on a detailed examination of the practical experiences of countries that have established this type of relationship. The report finds that the pillars of an improved relationship highlighted in the Study remain valid. However, it identifies some additional features that are equally important: the part played by the tax control framework used by a large business in providing an objective basis for trust is emphasised. It also suggests that 'co-operative compliance' is a better description of the recommended approach than the original 'enhanced relationship' label. The report addresses some questions that have been raised about the compatibility of the new approach with certain legal principles and discusses the internal governance of these programmes within revenue bodies. The importance of making a sound business case for the approach and how to measure the results of co-operative compliance programmes is addressed. The report concludes with some thoughts about the future direction of the co-operative compliance concept.

This book provides guidance on a whole-of-revenue body approach for managing service demand effectively. It sets out a possible ‘model’ for governance arrangements based on leading revenue body practice – in this case the Australian Taxation Office—that has been examined and is supported by the FTA’s Taxpayer Services Sub-group. It also sets out practical steps in the form of a step-by-step framework to support revenue bodies in their efforts to better identify, analyse and address the causes of service demand. The guide has been designed to support all revenue bodies, from those that are in the early stages of developing comprehensive service delivery programs to those with mature programs in place. While it focuses on the revenue body’s role in tax administration it acknowledges that some revenue bodies have a broader set of responsibilities, for example, in the administration of some social policies. This guide has not explored how such roles should integrate at a broader demand management level and revenue bodies will need to assess this issue, if relevant, having regard to their individual circumstances.