19 January 2012

OECD: 7th meeting of the Forum on Tax Administration "Strengthening Tax Compliance through Cooperation"

Offshore Compliance

When promoters and facilitators feel that we are tightening the net, they may simply move to a new location. OECD will be relentless in its pursuit of them – no matter where they may be. OECD's Offshore Compliance Network is building on the achievements of individual countries to improve its collective ability to deter, detect, and deal with offshore tax evasion. An early priority is to understand better the structures used to hide offshore wealth. OECD further agreed that collaboration must now include coordinated actions by countries to finally put an end to offshore non-compliance.

Taking the Relationship between Tax Administrations and Large Business Taxpayers Further

The FTA has worked hard in recent years to foster a more constructive relationship between large businesses and tax administrations. An adversarial relationship between tax administrations and multinational corporate taxpayers serves neither of OECD or FTA's purposes well and is contrary to their common goals, which are earlier and greater certainty, consistency, and efficiency. To this end, OECD agreed that it needs to create innovative strategies for issue resolution that are less time- and resource-intensive for both, while still promoting a climate that encourages compliance with tax laws. OECD will pay particular attention to the process of conducting and resolving transfer pricing cases. Overall, it intends to move away from a hide and seek approach to one based on greater transparency on the part of both taxpayers and tax administrations. As more companies put good tax compliance at the heart of their corporate governance, this will be easier to achieve.

Tax Administration in the Current Climate

The continued fragility that permeates the global economy demands that OECD works smarter. In this context, it is important for tax administrations to be efficient and effective in carrying out the roles entrusted to them. OECD is committed to sharing best practices among and with developing countries to improve continually the quality of tax administration across the world. It also recognises that high-quality customer service is essential to nurture high levels of voluntary compliance.

Conclusion

There is a common thread that runs through these areas of focus, particularly cooperation and coordination. The global challenge of offshore tax abuse demands coordinated action between countries that keeps the pressure up and makes it more difficult and risky for those taxpayers unlawfully and secretly hiding money offshore. OECD owes that to the majority who play by the rules and pay their fair share of taxes.

OECD thanks the Federal Public Revenue Administration of Argentina for hosting this meeting.

Finally, OECD also expresses its gratitude to the Russian Federal Tax Service for agreeing to host the 8th meeting of the Forum on Tax Administration in 2013.

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