As the world at large is increasingly interconnected it is no surprise that tax administration also benefits from a sharing of ideas from other countries. This November 18-19 in Washington DC will mark the first of what I hope is many International Conference on Taxpayer Rights. The conference website includes all sorts of good information, including an agenda and specific registration information.
From the website:
The National Taxpayer Advocate of the U.S. Internal Revenue Service is convening the Inaugural International Conference on Taxpayer Rights in Washington, D.C. This groundbreaking conference will explore how taxpayer rights globally serve as the foundation for effective tax administration. Government officials, scholars, and practitioners from many countries will discuss issues such as:
- Rights to confidentiality and privacy in an age of transparency;
- Right to appeal to an independent forum: the role of tax tribunals in protecting taxpayer rights;
- Taxpayer rights and procedural justice in audit and collection activities;
- Impact of taxpayer service on compliance;
- Role of taxpayer advocates, defenders, and ombuds in protecting taxpayer rights and promoting voluntary compliance;
- Challenges in “operationalizing” taxpayer rights in both mature and developing tax administrations.
Sponsors of the conference include Tax Analysts, the ABA Tax Section, the American Tax Policy Institute, the American College of Tax Counsel, the International Association of Tax Judges and the International Fiscal Association. There are some very interesting panelists and speakers from the US and abroad.
For those interested in tax administration this is a can’t miss conference, and I cannot wait to attend. I understand that the conference website (http://www.taxpayerrightsconference.com) will be updated to include some of the papers presented and will be a permanent location for documents pertaining to international taxpayer rights. As we get closer to the conference we will try to feature some of the papers or ideas and bring the conference or at least some of its highlights to our readers who are unable to attend.
About Leslie Book
Does Nina Olson’s ability to get away from the office for three days to run this show confirm the IRS view that she is not an essential employee?
Good representation from North America, Europe and Australia. (Note to Agenda editor: it’s not “Syndey,” and if you want to translate Italia to Italy then you should translate Padova to Padua, not to mention Wien or Sverige.). No one from the continent with 60% of the world’s population.
As it happens, on those dates I will be in Australia – oddly enough, the country that allows me to file electronically, without agreeing to unannounced visits for warrantless search of client files. I’m not holding my breath for an International Conference on Practitioner Rights.