What the participants learned

Tax authorities can collect tax ‘coercively’, trusting the citizens very little, being intrusive, demanding proof, etc. or they can rely mainly on the citizens doing what is right. Experience suggests that compliance is most likely to be optimized when a tax administration fosters and not simply enforces tax compliance. One of the important tasks that tax administrations need to do today is assisting taxpayers to comply as well as to deter taxpayers from non-compliance. What is crucial here is that tax administration understands that its service should not be built on its own internal view of  reality but rather that of taxpayers as what its staff  think is efficient or a good service may not be viewed as such from the perspective of the taxpayer. But to be able to do that is also closely connected to their understanding of taxpayers' behavior and what they can do to influence it.

This course discussed main characteristics of an effective taxpayer service program and looked into what initiatives SEE tax administrations undertake in developing and implementing effective taxpayer service programs that deliver the intended results. Among others, it offered an overview of changes in view and approach on client interaction and services; approach on property tax and economic psychology of tax behavior; service approach to citizens - expectations and challenges; and diagnostic assessment tool on taxpayers services, maturity assessment.

Participants were invited to share their experience of country specific initiatives under which national tax authorities are striving to provide a high quality, efficient, value for money service to taxpayers which in turn makes it easier and less costly for them to comply voluntarily. In this regard, the course also discussed the relevance of the latest research behavioral economics findings for prompting compliance.

How participants benefited

This learning initiative included a combination of presentations by subject-matter experts, group work activities followed by answer and question sessions. An important feature of this event was the valuable exchange of experiences of tax authorities across SEE supported with examples of efficient practices.

By the end of the course, participants had:

• Learned why an appropriate balance of resources between enforcement and service is a critical tool in achieving higher overall tax compliance
• Gained new insights into the range of taxpayer service channels that SEE tax authorities can adopt in their attempts to facilitate voluntary compliance
• Discussed the importance of tailored approach of service delivery to match the needs of various taxpayer segments and the risk to revenue
• Learned about ways of applying latest research behavioral economics findings on influencing taxpayer’s behavior in the pursuit of voluntary compliance
• Learned by exchange of experiences from other countries

Who attended

The course has been designed for mid to senior level tax officials who are involved and/or have experience with the developing, implementing and leading effective taxpayer service programs.

Participants took an active part in the workshop activities. The success of the workshop directly depended on the participants’ active engagement in the discussions and group work.

Faculty

The course will be delivered by Ms. Sanne Sanne Bücking and Mr. Kees van Dongen from the Ministry of finance of the Netherlands together with Mr. Norman Gillanders, the CEF Associate Fellow from Ireland.

Sanne Bücking, DTCA, Ministry of finance, the Netherlands

Sanne is Policy Advisor at the Dutch Tax and Customs Administration. Sanne started with the DTCA as a management trainee holding various positions in management and management support. Currently she is working as an advisor on implementing the DTCA’s vision on interaction. She is involved with enlisting third parties and the civic society in the service approach of the tax administration.

 

Kees van Dongen, DTCA, Ministry of Finance, the Netherlands

Kees is a Tactical Policy Advisor on the target groups Small and Medium-sized Businesses and Tax Service providers within the Service Domain of the Dutch Tax & Customs Administration. He started as a communication advisor at the Ministry of Finance and switched to the DTCA in different functions: implementation support (internal) IT-systems, communication and marketing process development-department, process management Benefits-department and now changing from policy advisor in the Service Domain to liaison officer 'interaction' for the SME-department.

 

Norman Gillanders, the CEF Associate Fellow, Ireland

Norman has rich expertise in regional tax administration for South East Europe. He works closely with the CEF to find ways to help SEE countries’ tax administrations to deal with the challenges they face in their attempts of achieving effective and efficient application of modern risk management approaches.

 

 

Partners

This learning initiative was supported by: