Tax Debt Management Network: Enhancing International Tax Debt Management

This report, which has been developed by the Forum on Tax Administration's (FTA) Tax Debt Management Network, looks at some of the main challenges currently facing international tax debt collection and makes a number of recommendations to help address them. These challenges include a lack of reliable statistics to inform decision-making, potential difficulties that can be faced in tracing debtors and assets, as well as an apparent lack of experience and knowledge in some cases as to the processes and best practices for requesting assistance in recovery. Building on the OECD report Working Smarter in Tax Debt Management (OECD 2014), this report recommends a number of areas for further work by the FTA’s Tax Debt Management Network to help improve international tax debt collection.

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Published 8 December 2020

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• English (pdf)

This report is divided into four chapters:

Chapter 1 sets out in more detail what constitutes international tax debt and the nature of the challenges and limitations currently faced by some tax administrations.

Chapter 2 explores some of the technical interpretation and operational issues that administrations have encountered, both as regards the exhaustion of domestic possibilities and in the making and receiving of requests for assistance in recovery.

Chapter 3 looks at assistance in recovery, describing the legal basis for such assistance and the operational and organisations issues that jurisdictions may wish to take into account.

Chapter 4, drawing on the issues identified in this report, sets out a number of high level recommendations for further work by the Tax Debt Management Network, including the exploration of possible collective solutions to address some of these issues, where appropriate.

The recommendations cover:

• The further sharing of knowledge and best practices on both assistance in recovery and insolvency measures
• The use of standardised e-forms for requests for assistance in recovery; Ways to improve the identification of tax debtors and assets;
• Further research on the use of reservations and options for facilitating assistance in recovery
• Tools to assist in the operation of administrative assistance; and
• Collaborative work on analysing and assessing the scope and use of domestic tax debt management powers.

Press release

Heads of tax administration agree global actions to meet the current economic and administrative challenges (08/12/2020)

Further information

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