3rd NTO Technical Conference “Navigating the Digital Tax Landscape: E-Commerce, Sharing Platforms, and Trade-in Crypto Assets”

The three-day flagship event of NTO provided a valuable platform for tax authorities, senior officials from ministries, and representatives from global institutions such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), and Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), as well as policymakers, researchers, civil society representatives, and private sector stakeholders to explore the key issues surrounding the taxation of digital platforms, with a focus on e-commerce, crypto assets, and the gig economy - areas of growing interest for tax administrations and tax organisations..

As one of the member organisations of NTO, IOTA had valuable input by organising an informative session on the third day of the event. This session, facilitated by Niklas Svensson, a legal adviser with the Norwegian Tax Administration, focused on “Best Practices in Reporting and Auditing Taxpayers and Their Hosts for Increased Revenue from Trade and Investment in Crypto Assets”. It featured presentations from the IOTA member tax administrations of Austria, Bulgaria, Italy and Sweden, concluding with an interactive Q&A. The session aimed to provide tax administrations with insights into best practices for identifying compliance risks, enhancing reporting requirements, and auditing taxpayers involved in crypto asset activities. Topics included legal frameworks, data collection, cross-border cooperation, effective compliance enforcement strategies, and maximizing tax revenue from crypto trading and investment.

Following the opening remarks from Niklas Svensson, the first presentation focused on “Best Practices in Ensuring Reporting Requirements and Effective Use of Reporting Data to Enhance Tax Compliance in Crypto-Asset Activities,” which was delivered by the Italian Revenue Agency. This presentation outlined the legislative framework for taxing virtual assets in Italy and the Agency's initiatives to ensure appropriate reporting and declaration of these assets:

• Italy: “The Legislation for Crypto-Assets in Italy: Capital Gains and Reporting Obligations” presented by Edoardo Mizzon & Claudio Schettino.

The next part of the session shared examples of  “Auditing Techniques for Crypto Asset Transactions” and included presentations from the Austrian Tax and Customs Administration and Bulgarian National Revenue Agency. The focus was on advanced auditing and investigation methods evaluating the accuracy of tax reporting in crypto activities and ensuring compliance:

• Austria: “Investigating, Analyzing, and Seizing Crypto-Assets” presented by Michael Promberger & Alexander Stelzer,
• Bulgaria: “Audit of a Non-Compliant Crypto Mining Company Owned by Foreign Citizens” presented by Kaloyan Lazov.

The final part of the session addressed the “Effective Use of Exchange of Information on Crypto-Asset Activities,” with the Swedish Tax Agency presenting its experiences, as well as the benefits and challenges of the current international exchange of information framework on crypto assets:

• Sweden: “Exchange of Crypto Information: Benefits and Challenges” presented by Inger Berntsson.

This special IOTA Session concluded with an interactive Q&A, allowing participants to pose questions, share insights, and discuss future directions for improving tax reporting and auditing in the crypto asset sector.

The Network of Tax Organisations (NTO) comprises 10 regional and international tax organizations, including IOTA. It aims to enhance the capacity of its member organizations and their tax administrations by promoting international collaboration and dialogue on tax issues to support effective domestic resource mobilization (DRM). For further information about the event, please visit the official website of the 3rd NTO Technical Conference.