The second tax dialogue established strong peer-to-peer relationships between tax practitioners of the Commonwealth. There was consensus on a need to formalise this platform to forge partnerships between tax authorities with the support of organisations such as CATA and FCDO India. These partnerships could potentially take the form of knowledge sharing workshops between peers, peer-to-peer support through working on joint projects to solve identified problem cases and by deepening collaboration with academia.
Top 6 recommendations as next steps to assist tax simplification across the Commonwealth
- Institutionalise peer to peer support by creating a working group of tax practitioners that meet regularly to stay updated on shared challenges and solutions/initiatives, to keep discussions live.
- Create a repository of case studies on key initiatives taken on tax simplification and lessons learnt; best practices on designing flexible tax systems/ tools could be developed.
- Set up of a bespoke learning hub for tax practitioners that can facilitate partnerships between tax authorities on specific problem statements, new projects undertaken, and provide product development support to name a few. Format of support could be through peer-to-peer knowledge sharing workshops, or joint working on specific projects between tax administrations.
- Potential themes for future collaboration include developing a unique digital identity for taxpayers; methods of acquiring third-party data; setting up of the e-filling portal for taxpayers; how to set up a data lab in-house to work with academics/researchers; develop taxpayer communication strategy; expertise on software building and tools to simplify compliance for small businesses. For example, sharing experience of developing and implementing digital identities by India, Australia and Malaysia; online tax portals such as ‘MyTax Platform’ of Malaysia; UK’s experience on data labs.
- Greater collaboration with researchers and academics. India mentioned it had recently set up a Centre for Finance & Taxation which looks to explore research studies and could explore joint work with partners from academic institutions and across the Commonwealth.
- Pooling technical and financial resources to create collective capacity within the Commonwealth. This requires a willing anchor/ host, a delivery mechanism, and agreement between partners to provide long term support.
Hirawati Gokhale
February 2025: Wilton Park
In association with
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Notes
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