/y2010n12

ISSN 1684-9833 • No.12 / July 30, 2010

Update your Agenda

The Executive Secretariat Informs Executive Secretary meets with the IRS Representative and others in Washington During the week of July 19th the CIAT Executive Secretary, Marcio F. Verdi, and the Director of International Assistance and Cooperation, Socorro Velazquez, traveled to Washington, DC to meet with the US CIAT Representative and officials from other organizations.

The Executive Secretariat Informs Executive Secretary meets with the IRS Representative and others in Washington The Executive Secretary Meets with Crown Agents COTA successfully held its XXI General Assembly Barbados presented its electronic filing system at the COTA Assembly CIAT honors its officials DGII the Dominican Republic commemorates its thirteenth anniversary The Tax Administrations Inform Canada - The Canada Revenue Agency’s review activities Chile - SII participated in activities of “Chile Day” in New York Paraguay - Consolidates On-Line tax services Peru – SUNAT launches exclusive portal for foreign investors DGII of the Dominican Republic initiates Tax and Administrative Career Path System KRA in Kshs. 53.8 billion revenue growth

The CIAT delegation met with officials from the following organizations: US Internal Revenue Service (IRS); New Rules for Global Finance; U.S. Treasury - Office of Technical Assistance (OTA); International Monetary Fund (IMF); and, former IRS LMSB Commissioners Debbie Nolan and Frank Ng. IRS Deputy Commissioner Steven Miller received the CIAT delegation.

Several subjects were covered, among them current CIAT activities within member countries and other international organizations. Mr. Miller assured the Executive Secretary that the US will continue to support CIAT’s work in assisting other member countries.

An excellent exchange on ongoing programs was had the Executive Director of the NGO New Rules for Global Finance. In addition to staff present at the meeting other individuals were connected via teleconference. Specifically, Michael Lennard from the UN DESA, Michael Ango from the Federal Inland Revenue Service of Nigeria and David Spencer from the Tax Justice Network.

We covered a diverse number of issues ranging from the project proposal submission to the UN on Measuring Tax Burden to support to the recently created African Tax Administration Forum (ATAF).

Our meeting with William Remington and Lee Niederman from the Office of Technical Assistance, U.S. Treasury was also productive. We discussed the ongoing progress of a collaborative effort with OTA, CIAT and the GTZ from Germany on tax administration workshops in the coming months.

Lastly, we had the opportunity to meet with Mr. Carlo Cottarelli, Director of the Fiscal Affairs Department at the IMF. We informed Mr. Cottarelli of current CIAT activities and other projects in progress in combination with the IMF CAPTAC official in Guatemala, Mr. Oscar Vazquez. Mr. Cottarelli was very complimentary on CIAT’s current pro-active role in the field of tax administration.

Training Events Publications ¡¿Really?!

Mr. Steve Miller, IRS Deputy Commissioner and Marcio F. Verdi, CIAT Executive Secretary.

eCIAT

Newsletter

The Executive Secretary Meets with Crown Agents CIAT is a public international organization which groups the tax administrations of 38 countries, (29 Amarican countries, 6 European countries, 2 African countries and one Asian country), for the purpose of providing an integral service for the modernization of those administrations, by promoting their evolution, social acceptance and consolidation through the exchange of knowledge, experiences and the rendering of specialized technical assistance.

Executive Council Executive Secretariat

The e-CIAT Newsletter is published and distributed electronically biweekly.

Register

On the 6th of July, CIAT’s Executive Secretary, Marcio Verdi, met with three representatives from Crown Agents (Michael Canvin, David Turney and Melissa Nobile) in London.

CIAT are a partner in a proposal submitted by Crown Agents in April for a tax research opportunity with the UK’s Department for International Development, and this meeting provided the perfect occasion to discuss this proposal and future opportunities for collaboration.

COTA successfully held its XXI General Assembly On July 12 through 15, 2010, the Caribbean Organization of Tax Administrators – COTA successfully held its XXI General Assembly and Technical Conference in Barbados. High quality papers were presented for discussing the main theme, namely: “The successes and challenges of Tax Administrations in maintaining efficiencies in a time of Global Economic Transformation”.

The Inter-American Center of Tax Administrations hereby congratulates COTA for its General Assembly and Technical Conference.

Contact us: CIAT Executive Secretariat / e-CIAT Newsletter P.O. Box 0834-02129 Panama, Republic of Panama.

Phone (507) 265-2766 / 265-5994 Fax: (507) 264-4926 E mail:ciat@ciat.org Web Site: http://www.ciat.org Official photograph of the XXI General Assembly and Technical Conference of the Association of Tax Administrators Caribbean – COTA

Barbados presented its electronic filing system at the COTA Assembly Together with Mr. Marvin Ishmael from the Barbados Internal Revenue Department, the CIAT Technical Assistance Manager, Raul Zambrano, conducted a Workshop on Electronic Filing of income tax and information returns during the XXI General Assembly of COTA (Caribbean Organization of Tax Administrations).

The workshop that was based on the Barbadian Tax Administration’s system included the presentation of slips on salary withholdings by the employer, the generation of individual slips (PAYE slips) and the tax returns filed by those employees, including a Reverse Tax Credit application (RTC).

eCIAT

Newsletter

CIAT honors its officials Last July 16, the Executive Secretariat held a ceremony at its headquarters to recognize the efforts and dedication of officials who have been working at CIAT for over 15 years.

On that occasion, recognition plaques were presented to 12 officials whose service time ranges between 39 and 15 years of loyalty and commitment to the institution.

From left to right: The CIAT Executive Secretary, Mr. Márcio F. Verdi, Marco de Gracia, with 39 years of service and Luis Acosta from the Information Technology Department.

Officials honored accompanied by the CIAT Executive Secretary, Mr. Márcio F. Verdi.

DGII the Dominican Republic commemorates its thirteenth anniversary CIAT congratulates the General Directorate of Internal Taxes (DGII) on the thirteenth anniversary of its establishment on July 27, 1997.

We hereby convey our best wishes and congratulations to Germania Montás Yapur, Acting Director General, as well as to all DGII officials.

The Tax Administrations Inform The Canada Revenue Agency’s review activities Each year, more taxpayers file their returns online using NETFILE or EFILE. Although electronic filers do not have to send their receipts to the CRA, they should not send them to the recycling bin just yet! When the CRA reviews tax returns, it will ask taxpayers to send their receipts.

Completing your individual income tax and benefit return can sometimes be complex. The CRA does several reviews to make sure that income, deductions, and credits are accurately reported and filed. These reviews promote taxpayer education by identifying any areas of misunderstanding. There are four main review programs: • • • •

Pre-assessment Review Program Processing Review Program Matching Program Registered Retirement Savings Plan (RRSP) Excess Contribution Program

Maria Pica Correspondent

eCIAT

Newsletter

SII participated in activities of “Chile Day” in New York The director of the Internal Revenue Service, Julio Pereira, participated on July 15 and 16, in New York, in the activities of the so-called “Chile Day”, an event whose objective is to promote investments in Chile by highlighting the country’s institutional, political and economic stability.

This activity which was held for the second consecutive year is organized jointly by public entities and Chilean and U.S. private businesses mainly involved in the New York securities market (Wall Street).

Specifically, director Pereira referred to the governmental decision announced by the Minister of Finance, Felipe Larraín, of promoting a bill for unifying taxation of the various investment funds existing in Chile. In this respect, he participated as speaker in a panel wherein he referred to the current tax treatment of interest, stocks, bonds, mutual funds fees, determination of costs of social rights and the concept of greater value, among others.

The director also referred to the benefits provided in the double taxation treaty recently signed by Chile and the United States, noting, among other things, the benefit of elimination of the U.S. withholding tax in the case of investments made by the AFP Chilean pension funds in the U.S. market.

Bernardita Moraga Correspondent

Paraguay consolidates On-Line tax services The Tax Administration of Paraguay has consolidated on-line tax services for the taxpayers. In this respect, eleven regional offices of the most important cities in the country’s inland, are interconnected for offering citizens Internet services by means of the options afforded by the technology.

In the first semester of the year, the WEB page of the Undersecretariat of Taxation received a total of 1.150.265 hits, thus becoming one of the most visited pages of the public sector in Paraguay. In 2009, total hits numbered 1.593.417 and, therefore, this figure will be widely exceeded by the end of the year.

Taxpayers may access these on-line services at the Web page of the State Undersecretariat of Taxation (SET) of the Ministry of Finance: www.set.gov.py , to obtain promptly and easily the Tax Compliance Certificate and Evidence of Not being a Taxpayer. In this latter case, there is no need for an Access Code.

Taxpayers may obtain their Tax Compliance Certificate by entering the Marangatú System through their Confidential Access Code and following the required procedures. They may also file their returns and access their statements of account via Internet.

Elizabeth Fernández de Corrales Correspondent

SUNAT launches exclusive portal for foreign investors The National Tax Superintendency - SUNAT continues to develop new virtual services to facilitate compliance with tax obligations and foreign trade operations. In this respect, it recently implemented the Foreign Investor Community, a portal that will provide tax, customs and economic information to future economic agents investing in Peru.

This new community will become the essential inquiry Web site for foreign investors interested in some business opportunity in the country, by providing the necessary information for making the best managerial decision.

Clara Loza Ramírez Corresponsal

eCIAT

Newsletter

DGII of the Dominican Republic initiates Tax and Administrative Career Path System The DGII of the Dominican Republic commemorated its thirteenth anniversary with the entry of 433 officials in a Special Administrative Career Path System adjusted on the basis of the technical levels of the institution in accordance with the Public Function 4108 Law. The General Directorate of Internal Taxes held this formal act of first entry to the Tax and Administrative Career Path System as one of the most important achievements of the DGII in 2010, on recognizing and promoting a high level of efficiency and abidance by the ethical behavior of its staff.

The event was held within the framework of commemoration of the institution’s thirteenth anniversary at the main auditorium of the Central Bank of the Dominican Republic and was headed by the Deputy Minister of Finance, Julio Aibal Fernández , with the participation of Mrs. Germania Montás Yapur, Deputy General Director of Internal Taxes acting as General Director, Ramón Ventura Camejo, Staff Management Minister (SMM), Ms. Tania Guenen, Human Resources Manager of the DGII and Juan Antonio Garde Roca, of the State Agency of Tax Administration of Spain.

Source: DGII of Dominican Republic - Web site

KRA in Kshs. 53.8 billion revenue growth KRA collected a total of Kshs. 534.4 billion during the Financial Year 2009/10 against a target of Kshs. 545.2 billion representing revenue growth of Kshs. 53.8 billion according to the Commissioner General Mr. M G. Waweru.

He said the collection is 11.2 percent over the Kshs. 480.6 billion collected in 2008/2009 Financial Year, though the overall result translates to a revenue deficit of Kshs. 10.8 billion and a performance rate of 98 per cent.

Mr. Waweru said all revenue departments registered significant growth in revenue collection compared to FY 2008/09.

The highest growth was registered by Domestic taxes Department at 13.2 percent followed by Customs Services at 8.0 percent and Road Transport Department at 3.7 percent.

The CG was speaking on 20th July 2010 at a press conference held at KRA’s Times Tower Boardroom while releasing the 2009/2010 revenue performance report. He was accompanied by Commissioners, Heads of Departments and other senior managers.

Source: Kenya Revenue Authority - Portal

Training CIAT makes New Call for Tutors of its Virtual Courses The General Directorate of Internal Taxes holds the seventh position among the 50 best places to work in the Dominican Republic.

Events Methods for Evaluating Efficiency and Welfare Effects of Fiscal and Social Policies September 20 -22, 2010 Madrid, Spain

This series of lectures deal with the various tools presently available to evaluate the impact of economic policies on efficiency, poverty reduction, or on the distribution of living standards, with particular focus on methods that can be used to evaluate the potential for improving fiscal as well as social policies.

eCIAT

Newsletter

Tax Evasion, Tax Avoidance and the Shadow Economy 66th. Annual Congress of the International Institute of Public Finance Uppsala, Sweden August 23 - 26, 2010

Tax evasion, tax avoidance and the shadow economy is the theme of the congress. The keynote lectures will cover topics like The theoretical approaches to tax evasion, Tax evasion and tax avoidance:The North American experience and How the government affects tax compliance: Evidence from Central Europe.

Publications New in the web CIAT/AEAT/IEF Tax Administration Review No. 29. 2010 The review included in its No. 29 edition of July 2010, the winning paper of the 4st Research Scholarship and also included the first and second prize winning entries of the XXII CIAT/AEAT/IEF Essay Contest.

Our documents

Viable Tax Administration, Viable State Technical Conference 2005

This book includes the papers that were presented at the CIAT Technical Conference held in Cartagena, Colombia, on September 26 - 29, 2005. The Technical papers deal with: Awareness of the importance of tax administration and management of the environment. Preparation of the organization and capacity for responding to change. Information technology applied to the tax processes.

Other documents Diritto e Pratica Tributaria Internazionale Victor Uckmar April, 2010

This review integrates, in a systematic and deepened way, the international aspects of tax law. The review goes beyond national borders and it is aimed at exploring others law systems and institutes, which most of the times have had a strong impact in the evolution of the Italian tax system.

Programa de Cidadania Tributária Exercício para a Cidadania e Controle Social uma experiência do Governo do estado do Ceará, através da Secretaria da Fazenda 2010

This program tax is a campaign to mobilize the population to enable the exercise of fiscal citizenship, with information on revenue and expenditure available to guide the citizens on the mechanisms of participation and social controlem.

eCIAT

Newsletter

¡Were you aware that!...

Provision of Taxpayer Services through Internet: Management and Technological Aspects Based on request made by the Executive Council in 2001, a study on Internet sites and the electronic services provided by them to the Administrations was carried out in 2002. We are aware that information and communication technologies evolve at high speeds; thus, this interesting inquiry material shows how those services were visualized in 2002; that is, the way it was anticipated that they should evolve to compare them with their actual evolution.

¡¿Really?!

Prime Revenue Budget history Prime Revenue Budget history. The first known census, were made with tax relief or to proceed with military recruitment.

The Code of Hammurabi was a collection of laws and edicts of King Hammurabi of Babylon, and is the first known code of history.

The fragments of clay tablets found in ancient Babylon, indicate that as early as 3800 a. C. censuses were carried out to make an estimate of future revenues provided by taxes.

This code ends with an epilogue glorifying the enormous work done by Hammurabi to achieve peace, with an explicit reference to the monarch was called by the gods to “the cause of justice prevails in the world, to destroy the evil and the evil “and describes the laws so that” people enjoy a stable government and good rule, “which is written on a post saying that” the strong can not oppress the weak and justice accompany the widow and the orphan. “ For over 4000 years, the Egyptian priests heading from the city of Heliopolis, on which now stirs Cairo, worship the sun, which they called Ra and that symbolized the chief god of Egyptian mythology, the creator and Supreme Judge of the world. It held that this was properly worshiped in the valley of the Nile, watching the daily evolution of the sky, where the quality of astronomers added their priestly profession, and probably with greater zeal, for seeing that the taxes arrive promptly to the coffers of the god Ra. In Muslim Spain, taxes diversified. Were established harvest tax on financial transactions, on rights of way, livestock, land, buildings. There were two important taxes: customs duties (import tax) and the advantages that were paid to buy or sell anything.

In the Christian kingdoms, are taxed on account of the needs that the King had: to wage war, build a bridge, etc.

Therefore, the Estates were pressing, ie the tax came to be established by the need and therefore did not need to make a document of estimates of revenue and expenditure (budget).

Source: DGII Dominican Republic - Portal (Education Tax)