IOTA is delighted to share that another successful IOTA Peer-to-Peer Technical Assistance Project was implemented between Poland and the United Kingdom. The Project ran under the title “Tax administration as a promoter of transparency, supporting social responsibility. Transparency of tax data and tax strategies in support of tax compliance”. His Majesty’s Revenue & Customs (HMRC) of the United Kingdom as the Provider and the Ministry of Finance/National Revenue Administration (NRA) of the Republic of Poland as the Beneficiary shared experience in the area of scoping taxpayers' tax strategy obligations and overseeing the obligation to publish a tax strategy, as well as the possibility of using data resulting from the tax strategy to assess tax risks.
The overall objective of this technical assistance project was to support the Beneficiary in preparing the legislative changes to expand taxpayers' obligations to implement, apply, and publish a tax strategy. This initiative is aimed at increasing transparency of tax issues, thereby increasing tax compliance by companies, as well as providing information to the NRA and increasing the analytical capabilities of the NRA by being able to better assess tax risks. As the supervision of tax strategy issues has functioned for many years in the United Kingdom, sharing experience in this area was very beneficial for the Polish party.
During the online meetings between the project teams and IOTA Secretariat, held on May 10 and 12, 2023, and the follow-up written communication, the UK team members presented how the HMRC co-operates with large taxpayers and ensures overseeing of the tax strategies. Discussions were focused on the operations of HMRC's Large Business Directorate (HMRC LB), the role of a Customer Compliance Manager (CCM), the scope of the Co-operative Compliance Framework, and an overview of the Tax Compliance Risk Management Process. Additionally, the British colleagues presented their Business Risk Review model and the methodology used to calculate the policy costing of the tax strategy.
Upon conclusion of the project, the Parties agreed that the cooperation was successful and that the obtained information, solutions, and documents will help the Beneficiary to initiate such next steps as drafting changes to the tax consultation concept, designing Polish solutions in the development of tax strategy obligations and implementing IT solutions to improve the strategy process.
Find out more about the Project by visiting the dedicated Project page on the IOTA website.