IOTA Booklet 2012-2013
Dear Readers,
Ever since its establishment, the ultimate aim of the Organisation has always been to assist members in modernising their tax administrations through the exchange of experiences and best practices.
With the evolution of the Organisation, the activities and outputs of IOTA have continuously expanded and become more and more complex now covering a wide range of tax administration issues in diff erent forms of events and publications. In the last few years, more and more emphasis has been put on tangible outputs. Th e main driving force behind technical publications has been the Area Groups and their Task Teams. In addition, the website and the online databases of IOTA have also been major achievements. To date, IOTA has some 21 to 23 technical taxation events and at least 3-4 publications per year. To achieve this with a staff of 10 persons at the IOTA Secretariat, the active involvement and contribution of the member tax administrations has been of utmost importance. Th anks to this IOTA is by now a widely known European tax organization.
There is always room to improve, though. With this in mind, the Strategy of IOTA for 2012-2017 was put forward by the Executive Council and adopted by the General Assembly on 6 July 2012 in Oslo, Norway. Th is widely supported document envisages and determines the future development path of the Organisation and contains many new initiatives and approaches to be adapted by IOTA to more eff ectively and fl exibly refl ect on real time needs and challenges of its members. Th e emphasis is on core tax administration issues, innovation, quality and international positioning.
The year of 2013 will inevitably be a challenging one in that careful consideration should be given to the integration of new approaches and working methods into the existing procedures with the widest possible support of the member tax administrations, while at the same time the annual Work Programme of IOTA should be delivered at the usual service standard.
This information booklet aims to give the reader a general overview of IOTA in terms of its history, objectives, structure, statutory bodies, members, partners and activities in 2013. I would like to encourage you to participate in our events and activities throughout the year, hoping that the services off ered by our Organisation will again meet your expectations.
Last, but not least, I strongly believe that the implementation of the new IOTA strategy over the years to come will contribute to even higher quality services off ered by our common Organisation to the benefi t of all its member administrations.
Miklós Kok, Executive Secretary of IOTA