Tax Returns: Pre-Filled and Implicit - Existing Methods and Perspectives

Over the last two decades, tax administrations have been using technological solutions to enhance their tax return processing capabilities, in particular those related to the provision of fully or partially completed pre-filled tax returns for the major taxes (personal income tax, corporate income tax, VAT) to taxpayers and their representatives.

Data and information are critical to the successful operation of tax return pre-filling mechanism. Thanks to a rapid and significant development of information and communication technology, tax administrations can process millions of taxpayer transactions, manage millions of phone calls and logins on their internet tax portals as to build a comprehensive taxpayer history. In addition, tax administrations receive data from third parties reports including income, deductions, interest, dividends, share purchases and sales, property transactions, etc.

With growing opportunities for taxpayers to benefit from the full suite of electronic services offered to them, further enhancement of methods and tools of pre-filled tax return (in electronic and/or paper form) preparation and assessment, including its automation, remains a priority to tax administrations’ e-services strategies.