ABOUT THIS WEBINAR

Taking into account the evolving dynamics of learning that the online environment is offering, we are pleased to engage with tax officials across South East Europe (SEE) and broader also by complementing our face-to-face knowledge exchange events with a series of webinars on selected topics.

The first webinar in the series looked into specific bottlenecks that may hinder the effectiveness of the tax administration’s operations and offered guiding principles SEE tax authorities may employ in designing their strategies for comprehensive and clear modernization and institutional reorganization agendas.

What participants learned

Many tax administrations across SEE are rethinking the way tax reform occurs in their countries and are, in response, preparing comprehensive and clear agendas for modernization and institutional reorganization. However, while they may wish to adopt modern approaches to tax administration, often many fail to adapt themselves to work in new way. In addition, experience suggests that the administrative dimension of tax reform is too important to policy outcomes to be neglected by tax policy reformers. How a tax system is administered affects its yield, its incidence, and its efficiency. There is a growing conviction among tax policy specialists that it is critical to ensure that changes in tax policy are compatible with administrative capacity.

This webinar brought together tax officials to discuss essential preconditions for the reform of tax administration looking in particular into ways of rationalizing organizational and management structures, and re-engineering of core tax administration business processes. It also included a presentation of the Tax administration Diagnostic Assessment Tool (TADAT) which has been designed to provide an objective assessment of the health of key components of a country’s system of tax administration.

On the occasion, first-hand country specific experience in running the modernization agenda at their respective tax administration was presented along with an explanation of the purpose of the reforms and the challenges administrations are facing in implementing them.

How participants benefited

This learning initiative applied participatory learning design, combining subject matter presentations with answer and question session built in to ensure active engagement of the webinar attendees and to optimize learning outcomes.

The aim of the webinar was to open a discussion on the challenges concerning the foundations for building a modern tax authority that delivers increased tax revenues more efficiently and with less intrusion into the affairs of compliant businesses. In particular by the end of the webinar, participants had:

• Learned about the key steps to be considered when embarking on institutional transformation to continue the modernization of their organizations
• Become familiar with the IMF’s framework for analyzing institutional strength in tax administrations – TADAT framework
• Learned about the country specific experiences in the area of institutional development that tax administrations have taken to increase the effectiveness of their operations
• Explored potential for leveraging improved tax administration reform strategies in their own contexts

Attendees

This learning initiative has been designed for tax officials who are involved and/or have experience in setting and implementing reform management strategy. Also of interest for staff involved in tax policy-making processes within ministries of finance.

Practical information

When: February 23, 2017, at 10:00 AM CET

Where: From the convenience of your own computer, tablet or smartphone.

Language: English

Duration: 90 minutes

This webinar was free to join. You can view the recording here. Please feel free to bring this webinar to the attention of your colleagues who may find the discussion particularly timely and useful!

Agenda

• Introduction (explanation of the content that will be provided during the webinar, introduction of the speakers, a brief overview of how the webinar will be structured and facilitated) – up to 10 minutes
• Introductory presentation on why tax administration is required: Employee engagement in change interventions – up to 20 minutes
• Presentation of the TADAT framework – up to 20 minutes
• Presentation of Albania’s experience of its efforts in reforming tax administration - up to 20 minutes
• Discussion through the chat to gather questions - up to 15 minutes
• Wrap-up and gathering of reflections through polling application – 5 minutes

Faculty

Adrie van Braak, Tax Administration of the Netherlands

Adrie van Braak has been working working for the NTCA since 1985. He is educated as an CPA and working as a strategic advisor supervision and tax auditing for the dutch tax administration.
In his daily work Adrie is advising the regional management of his office about supervision on the SME’s in the region.
On national level Adrie coordinates the supervision on the largest SME businesses in the Netherlands and is lecturing new colleagues in the fields of supervision and tax auditing.

Wieke de Zwart, Tax Administration of the Netherlands

Wieke de Zwart has studied Criminology and Public Administration. For 6 months she has been working for the Dutch Tax authorities in Utrecht. Wieke works at a recently established department 'Implementation Organization'. This department has the focus on the support of implementations. Wieke's focus is on 'employee engagement'.

Adrie and Wieke will talk about employee engagement in change interventions.

Steffen Normann Hansen, International Monetary Fund

Steffen Normann Hansen is a Tax Administration Advisor in the South East Europe (SEE). He works for the IMF and has been based at the CEF since June 2014. He works with colleagues in national tax administrations in SEE, helping them to develop modern European tax systems and fighting against tax evasion, using good risk analysis. At the CEF, Steffen helps deliver learning programs related to his work. Before joining the IMF, Steffen was a Danish career administrator with a wealth of experience across all tax administration and customs components of revenue administration.

Steffen will present the TADAT (Tax Administration Diagnostic Assessment Tool) framework.

Vasilika Vjero, the General Director of the General Tax Directory, Albania

Vasilika Vjero has a long experience working for the public administration in Albania. Before joining her current position in 2016, she was directing Albanian National Center of Business Registration and Licensing since 2013.

For a period of more than 10 years, Mrs Vjero has been working for the local government (Tirana Municipality) serving first as the director of the department in charge of the illegal building in Tirana region, and then as the general director of local taxes and revenues of the Tirana Municipality for six years. During her last three years within the Municipality of Tirana she occupied the position of General Director of Strategic Planning and Budget Department.

A part of central and local government work experience, Mrs Vjero has a large working involvement also for non for profit initiatives in the fiscal field (projects implemented in Albania and supported by the World Bank Group, UNICEF, UN, the German Freidrich Ebbert Foundation, etc.)

Vasilika will share Albania's experience in reforming tax administration.

Webinar – related links participants may found useful:

• Romania Modernizes its National Agency for Fiscal Administration: A View From a CEF Associate Fellow on Its Reform Plans
• Video interview with Norman Gillanders, CEF Associate Fellow, on what factors need to be considered when managing tax administration reform processes
• Video interview with Steffen Hansen, IMF Tax Administration Reform Advisor for South East Europe on Compliance Risk Management
• Tax administration Diagnostic Assessment Tool