28th General Assembly of IOTA 'Using Data Science to Build Capacity and Enhance Capabilities in Tax Administrations'

The largest and most influential event of IOTA was attended in person by over 180 delegates and virtually by over 170 participants from Member and Associate Member Countries’ Tax Administrations, high-ranking officials of the governmental bodies of Hungary, Exchange and Research Centre for Leaders of Tax Administrations (CREDAF), European Commission, Intra-American Network of Tax Administrators (CIAT), International Fiscal Association (IFA), International Monetary Fund (IMF), and other representatives of international organisations, business community representatives, tax practitioners and academia.

The Administrative Session of the 28th General Assembly took place on the 18th of June and was followed by the Technical Session on the 19th and 20th of June 2024. The professional theme of the 28th General Assembly was 'Using Data Science to Build Capacity and Enhance Capabilities in Tax Administrations'. As a part of the Technical Session, delegates also had the unique opportunity to visit the IOTA Expo ‘Data Innovation in Tax Administrations.’ The exhibition showcased the innovative use of data, analytics, and AI, as well as data-driven solutions, business ideas, and technologies presented by advanced and innovative tax administrations and their IT vendors.

ADMINISTRATIVE SESSION 18^TH JUNE 2024, TUESDAY

The Administrative Session was opened by Ferenc Vágujhelyi, the President of IOTA, and Kristóf Péter Bakai from the Hungarian Presidency along with Alix Perrignon de Troyes, the Executive Secretary of IOTA. The heads of the Organisation welcomed the attendees, outlined the agenda, and highlighted the objectives of the event.

During the Administrative Session of the 28th General Assembly, the IOTA President gave an overview of the key achievements and important decisions taken by the Presidency and the Executive Council during the term 2023/2024. Additionally, IOTA members made important decisions and voted on the IOTA Strategy Implementation Report, the Internal Auditors Report, the budget, agreed on the work programme, and much more besides.

More specifically the Members approved by voting the following:

• Report of Internal Auditors 2023;
• IOTA Activities Report 2023 and Financial Report 2023;
• Strategy Implementation Report 2023;
• Budget and Work Programme for 2025.

For the 2024/2025 term, Azerbaijan will hold the Presidency of IOTA, with Orkhan Nazarli, Head of the State Tax Service, becoming the new President of IOTA for a one-year term. This will mark Azerbaijan's long-standing membership in the Organisation since 2002.

The following IOTA member countries become appointed as Executive Council members for the term 2024/2025: Belgium, Estonia, Finland, Hungary, Romania, Sweden, and Switzerland.

Charalambia Kaouni, from Greece, was appointed as an Internal Auditor of the Organisation for a two-year term. Markus Erlmoser, from Austria, who was appointed as Internal Auditor in last year’s General Assembly, will continue to take office during the period between the 28th and 29th General Assemblies. The Professional Theme of the 29th General Assembly of IOTA will be ‘Adaptive and Agile Tax Administration in a Rapidly Changing Environment’ and the event will be held in Baku, Azerbaijan.

TECHNICAL SESSION 19TH-20TH JUNE 2024, WEDNESDAY-THURSDAY

In today's fast-changing world, data and artificial intelligence (AI) are at the heart of new developments and value creation in many IOTA member tax administrations. This year’s Technical Session professional theme ran under 'Using Data Science to Build Capacity and Enhance Capabilities in Tax Administrations'.

As we enter a period where data science is becoming more practical and creative, the overall goal of the Technical Session of the 28th General Assembly of IOTA in 2024 was to explore the latest trends of data innovation in tax administrations and promote the exchange of fresh ideas and forward-thinking conversations on the practical use of Machine Learning & AI for enhancing customer services and revitalising internal procedures along with the new approaches of applying advanced analytics for improved tax administration processes.

With eight distinct sessions, including keynote speeches, presentations and panel discussions, the Technical Session of the General Assembly effectively highlighted specific experiences, case studies, and examples of trials and experiments illustrating how IOTA members successfully apply data science techniques in tax administration to improve voluntary compliance, assess tax risks, enhance revenue collection, and increase operational efficiency.

The Technical Session also featured the IOTA Expo ‘Data Innovation in Tax Administrations’, which put the innovative use of Big Data, Machine Learning, and AI technology in tax administrations into the spotlight. The exhibition provided participants with the opportunity to explore Applied AI, Generative AI, Data Management, and other data-driven solutions, business ideas, and technologies presented by IOTA member tax administrations of Armenia, Estonia, Azerbaijan, Hungary, Lithuania, Poland and IT vendors (Fast Enterprises, Microsoft Corporation, Moody’s Analytics and RoyaltyRange).

The Technical Session this year was opened by one of the high-rank officials of Hungary, Mihály Varga, Minister of Finance of Hungary, who delivered welcome speech. Following his welcome speech, Ferenc Vágujhelyi, President of IOTA and Commissioner for the National Tax and Customs Administration of Hungary offered his opening remarks and set the scene for how Data Science can improve tax compliance and reduce burdens.

The first plenary session of the General Assembly ‘The Future of Advanced Analytics in Tax Administration: Insights and Predictions’ featured a combination of keynote speeches and presentations from international partner organisations and observers that set a stage for discussions on the development of new analytical tools that significantly increase the efficiency and effectiveness of tax administration and help to reduce burdens to a greater or lesser extent for different taxpayer segments. In this session, Mónika Váradi, Head of the Department of Central Management at the International Relations Department of the National Tax and Customs Administration, served as the moderator. The keynote speeches were delivered by guest speakers representing our esteemed international partner organisations and observers:

• Debra Adams, International Monetary Fund (IMF);
• Philippe Duponteil, Directorate-General for Taxation and Customs Union, European Commission;
• Raúl Zambrano, Intra-American Network of Tax Administrators (CIAT);
• Valentina Ion, Microsoft.

 The next plenary session revolved around ‘Building an Intelligent Data Strategy to Accelerate Data and AI Innovation in Tax Administrations’ allowing participants to explore how to successfully align AI, data and analytics strategy with the tax administration’s strategy, and the importance of having the right data architecture in place. Steve Lahos, from the Registration Duties, Estates, and VAT Authority of Luxembourg, took the moderator’s role during the session. Presentations on the subject were delivered by Ferenc Vágujhelyi, IOTA President, Janek Rozov from the Estonian Tax and Customs Board, Karine Rikheim from the Norwegian Tax Administration, and Wim Bonneux from the Federal Public Service Finance of Belgium.

The last session of the day opened the floor for a debate on ‘Unlocking the power of data’ exploring the most common data use cases and challenges such as data integration, data governance, and master data management. Panel speakers discussed issues of gathering and integrating diverse data sources within tax administrations, including structured and unstructured data, to create comprehensive datasets for analysis and decision-making. The debate was chaired by Prof. Dr Victor van Kommer, Director Tax Services, IBFD while Emil Garayev from the State Tax Service under the Ministry of Economy of Azerbaijan, Elguja Loliashvili from the Georgia Revenue Service, and Apostolos Boutos from the Independent Authority for Public Revenue of Greece along with Christophe du Four, European Commission’s DG REFORM joined the session as panellists.

The closing day of the General Assembly of IOTA brought new knowledge and another set of engaging discussions onto the stage. The plenaries offered impactful insights into the practical application of data science techniques in tax administrations. Additionally, attendees were actively involved in parallel sessions during the event. Each parallel session had a thematic stream and included short presentations on specific experiences, case studies, examples of trials and experiments illustrating how IOTA member tax administrations successfully apply data science techniques in tax administration to improve compliance rates, reduce tax gaps, enhance revenue collection, and increase operational efficiency.

Delegates spent time considering subjects such as:

• Using Artificial Intelligence (AI) to enhance customer services and internal procedures;
• Advanced Analytics and Predictive Modelling in Tax Administration;
• Data Visualisation and Reporting.

 The debates were driven by members’ experiences and speakers from business and academia and facilitated by Technical Experts from IOTA.

Following this, participants had the opportunity to provide feedback on findings and conclusions formulated in each parallel session in the form of a panel debate. In this session, the discussion was led by Øivind Strømme, International Director of the Norwegian Tax Administration who was joined by Raul Martinez Gonzalez, Deputy Head International Relations Unit at the Spanish Tax Agency, Maximilian Reischl, Manager Data & Analytics Unit, Federal Central Tax Office, Federal Ministry of Finance of Germany and Donnchadh Irish, Head of Data Analytics, Office of the Revenue Commissioners, Ireland. This was followed by reflections and questions from the audience.

The last plenary session of the General Assembly brought the topic of 'Ethical Considerations in Data-Driven Tax Administration' into the spotlight. This session discussed the ethical implications of leveraging data science in tax administrations, including legal and policy provisions regulating privacy protection, data security and equity, to ensure the responsible and accountable use of data and AI.  Gábor Béla Magyar, Chairman of the Artificial Intelligence Working Group and Deputy Professor at Budapest University of Technology took the lead during this debate while Brian Boyle from the Office of the Revenue Commissioners, Ireland and Kevin McGillivray from the Norwegian Tax Administration joined the talk as panellists.

At the end of the event, the heads of tax administrations, their representatives as senior officials and tax experts agreed to continue to work closely within IOTA with the aim of sharing best practices and practical solutions for applying AI and advanced data analytics to deliver services proactively and achieve intelligent revenue collection processes with reduced compliance costs.

All materials, presentations, and photos from the 28th General Assembly of IOTA are now accessible on the dedicated webpage of the new IOTA Web Portal. Video recordings of the event will be uploaded soon to the same webpage. The General Assembly documentation is exclusively available for registered IOTA members.