IOTA regional workshop “Establishing IT Forensic Laboratory for Tax Purposes” took place on 23-25 November 2016 in Skopje, FYR of Macedonia, hosted by the Public Revenue Office Data Forensics Laboratory Team. 30 participants from the countries of the Balkan region discussed legislative and organisational requirements, the education of employees and the added value of establishing a forensic unit in tax administration.
IT forensics is an area that many tax administrations work with as more and more taxpayers carry out their business activities using advanced information and communication technologies. Some administrations address these challenges as an integrated part of their operational activities while others have special units that handle IT forensics. 
The Public Revenue Office of the FYR of Macedonia is an example of a tax administration has chosen to set up its own dedicated IT forensics unit. In this regional workshop participants discussed best practice in establishing an IT forensics laboratory focusing on the experience of FYR Macedonia and also gained knowledge of situation in Norway and United Kingdom. Delegates discussed how to start forensic unit in tax administration, including the required legislative and organisational changes along with defining staff profiles and purchasing of hardware and software tools used for the forensic acquisition or analysis of data.
This was the first IOTA regional event and based on the positive feedback IOTA will consider ways of exploring similar focused events in the future.
Further information about the workshop is available here for registered users.