IOTA successfully hosted a Webinar on Identifying and addressing corruption risks in tax administration on 15th June 2022. The first digital event broadcast live from the IOTA studio in Budapest welcomed more than 60 participants from 22 IOTA member tax administrations, who virtually came together to learn about the systematic approach in the fight against corruption and the practical application of anti-corruption measures.
The main objectives of this Webinar were to share country examples of effective approaches to the efficient management of corruption risks, including internal mechanisms and processes implemented to detect and prevent corruption-related risks in tax administration.
The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in large-scale emergency spending by governments, sometimes without adhering to the regular checks and balances. The speed and scale of governments’ responses to the crisis have placed enormous strains on tax administrations and presented new and deepened opportunities for corruption to flourish.
This 90 min. Webinar offered opportunities for IOTA members to share good practices and efforts to prevent corruption and identify measures and methods to address wrongdoing when it occurs as well as work towards improving behaviours, norms, and standards in tax administration needed to sustain anti-corruption efforts. When approaching anti-corruption at the country level, it is important to put in place institutional systems and incentives to prevent corruption from occurring in the first place.
The focus of the Webinar was on the IOTA members' approaches to effectively managing the corruption risks and highlighting the most important factors in tackling corruption decisively. These and other topics were addressed by the following presenters:
- Video Presentation by Latvia: Corruption Risk Management at the State Revenue Service of Latvia prepared by Ms. Natālija Dolgova and delivered by Ms. Inese Rita
- Presentation by Greece: A Systematic Approach of the Independent Authority of Public Revenues to Detecting and Combating Corruption by Ms. Chrysoula Kranidou
- Presentation by Norway: Preventing and Fighting Corruption by Mr. Hans Petter Tetmo.
During the Webinar, hosts and speakers in the IOTA Studio and online participants could interact through the meeting chat providing their answers to the polls and raising questions concerning the main causes for corruption in tax administrations and the most common methods being used to identify the risks and prevent corruption.
All material, presentations included, is available for registered IOTA website users on the event’s webpage while the results from the poll questions, the recording on the event will be provided soon.