Tax Chiefs Agree Initiatives to Drive Digital Transformation

Tax commissioners and delegates from 53 jurisdictions met recently at the OECD’s Forum on Tax Administration (FTA) 17th annual Plenary meeting in Athens to discuss improvements to the international tax regime.

Commissioners focused on opportunities to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of tax administration globally by:

· Developing pilot implementation projects to support automated secure sharing of information between tax administrations and third parties, as well as deepening knowledge sharing on both the trusted use of AI and the global evidence base to support investments in digital transformation.

· Assisting the implementation of the global minimum tax and enhancing the tax certainty framework to help achieve early tax certainty and minimise disputes.

· Expanding collective efforts on tax capacity building, in co-operation with regional tax organisations, to support the transformation of tax administration globally, including through peer-to-peer engagement on leadership and the promotion of gender balance and diversity.

Commissioner Bob Hamilton, Chair of the FTA, said: “The theme of the Athens Plenary was the transformation of tax administration. We discussed how the new technology-enabled tools and the digitalisation of the economy offer us unparalleled opportunities to reduce global tax gaps and compliance burdens and to bring about earlier tax certainty. This is a long-term transformational ambition that requires close collaboration between tax administrations, both developed and developing, business and other stakeholders. It is clear that the FTA is well set to take this work to the next stage.”

Manal Corwin, Director of the OECD’s Centre for Tax Policy and Administration, said “Digital transformation, as set out in the FTA’s Tax Administration 3.0 vision, has huge potential both for taxation and for the wider economy. As acknowledged by FTA Commissioners, it is essential that we find ways that all administrations globally can both benefit from, and participate in this work.”

"As acknowledged by FTA Commissioners, it is essential that we find ways that all administrations globally can both benefit from, and participate in this work."

Manal Corwin, Director of Tax Policy & Administration, OECD