High Level DET Conference - ONLINE

Past Event: High Level DET-Conference - ONLINE on DIGITALISATION OF THE TAX FUNCTION: THE PERSPECTIVE OF BUSINESS AND TAX ADMINISTRATION organized by the Digital Economy Taxation Network, December 14-15, 2020

Digital Economy Taxation Network (DET) is now a well-established forum, with high – level conferences already organized in Vienna, Geneva, Singapore, China and the United States. These annual conferences are a useful way to take an overall assessment of where the international community stands on digital tax transformation.

To support these high-level conferences, DET has launched a series of workshops on VAT, Transfer Pricing, AI and Tax Compliance, the collaborative economy and international issues. Each issue has a dedicated research team drawn from the DET Network, which undertakes policy relevant research, feeding into the current international debate.

This conference, which will be virtual, will focus on the role of technology in helping tax administrations and business to achieve better and more efficient tax compliance. The aim is to contribute to a better understanding of the challenges and opportunities for governments and businesses opened up by advanced digital solutions (e.g. AI, Robotics, Big Data, Blockchain) and their potential in facilitating real tax compliance, ensuring trust and establishing tax certainty without compromising the integrity of the tax system. Targeted technological solutions and selective tax policy responses in this respect may also lead to sustainable reduction in both compliance and administrative costs and greater security of the revenue base.

The approach to the Conference’s topics will be twofold. On the one hand, academics from different fields will present their research and proposals on the above-mentioned selected issues and, on the other hand, businesses and policy makers will complement the discussions in terms of the practicality and feasibility of the discussed measures. In this way, the interdisciplinary approach would advance the quality and comprehensiveness of the debate. During the first day, the focus will be on the role of technology to achieve better compliance within companies and will explore the linkage between tax and trade compliance measures. The second day would examine how digital technologies can help in the effective delivery of the tax administration’s services and in compliance. The format of each session will include one or two keynote presentations which will be followed by a panel discussion consisting of governments, international and regional organizations, businesses, and academics. At the end of each session, the floor will be open for questions combined with case studies.