Tax administrations around the globe are taking on new responsibilities to support wider government actions to help address the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and support their taxpayers and citizens.

Tax Administration Responses to COVID-19: Assisting Wider Government, a report prepared by the OECD’s Forum on Tax Administration (FTA) in collaboration with the FTA’s Enterprise Risk Management Community of Interest, sets out some of the considerations that tax administrations may wish to take into account when dealing with these new responsibilities trigged by the COVID-19 crisis which often go beyond the functions normally provided by tax administrations.

The report also highlights the opportunities to build on lessons learned to improve the resilience and agility of tax administrations for the future.

‘In addition to the support that tax administrations have been giving to taxpayers under their own powers, many administrations have also played a critical role in the provision of wider government support, including financial support’, said Pascal Saint-Amans, Director of the OECD Centre for Tax Policy and Administration.

‘These new roles bring significant challenges in terms of rapid IT systems developments and redeployment of staff, and the lessons learned will help ensure that tax administrations emerge stronger and more agile from the crisis.’

The FTA, as part of its continuing support for tax administrations in dealing with COVID-19, has also released a new e-learning course on issues to be considered during the recovery period for successful business resumption. This complements an earlier FTA e-learning course on business continuity in the COVID-19 context.

Created in 2002, the FTA brings together Commissioners and tax administration officials from 53 OECD and non-OECD countries, including all members of the G20. As subsidiary body of the OECD, it encourages tax authority leaders to come together and co-operate around ideas that can help improve the administration of tax for both government and taxpayers alike. Commissioner Hans Christian Holte from the Norwegian Tax Administration was appointed Chair of the FTA in September 2017. He will be replaced by Commissioner Bob Hamilton of the Canada Revenue Agency as of 3 August 2020.

For more information on the work of the FTA in response to COVID-19, visit http://oe.cd/fta.

(Source: OECD Tax)

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