This report is the eleventh edition of the OECD's Tax Administration Series. It provides internationally comparative data on aspects of tax systems and their administration in 58 advanced and emerging economies. The report is intended to inform and inspire tax administrations as they consider their future operations, as well as to provide information on global tax administration trends and performance for stakeholders and policy makers. The report is structured around nine chapters that examine the performance of tax administration systems, using an extensive data set and a variety of examples to highlight recent innovations and successful practices. This edition also contains an additional chapter that explores progress on the digital transformation of tax administrations. The underlying data for this report comes from the International Survey on Revenue Administration and the Inventory of Tax Technology Initiatives.

This report examines effective communication strategies that tax administrations can use to assist small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in fulfilling their tax obligations. It analyses the various tools and channels available to tax administrations and their respective roles. The report draws on examples from the OECD Forum on Tax Administration members and includes two detailed case studies. The report was drafted by officials from the United Kingdom’s HM Revenue and Customs, with support from the OECD Forum on Tax Administration's Community of Interest on SMEs.

Multilateral Mutual Agreement Procedures (MAPs) and Advance Pricing Arrangements (APAs) offer greater tax certainty to both taxpayers and tax administrations where different parts of the same transaction or arrangement involving a multinational enterprise are covered by multiple bilateral tax treaties. However, most jurisdictions have limited experience in coordinating bilateral MAP and APA cases to offer multilateral certainty. In accordance with its commitment to advancing the tax certainty agenda, the FTA MAP Forum, in conjunction with the FTA Large Business International Programme, has developed the Manual on the handling of Multilateral MAPs and APAs (MoMA) which is intended as a guide to multilateral MAP and APA processes from both a legal and procedural perspective. The MoMA provides tax administrations and taxpayers with basic information on the operation of such procedures and suggests different approaches based on the existing practices of jurisdictions, without imposing a set of binding rules. The MoMA allows tax administrations to explore whether implementation of these procedures is appropriate considering the circumstances of their own MAP and APA programmes and to consider whether the guidance therein may be incorporated in their domestic guidance on MAP or APA processes to provide additional clarity.

The 2020 report Tax Administration 3.0: The Digital Transformation of Tax Administration identified electronic invoicing as one of the projects for further exploration. This report, Tax Administration 3.0 and Electronic Invoicing: Initial Findings, examines the current state of play on electronic invoicing based on a global survey. It also draws out some considerations that administrations exploring possible implementation or reform of such systems may wish to take into account. This report contains a number of case studies and examples from countries which have implemented electronic invoicing. This report was developed by officials from Canada, Chile, China (People’s Republic of), Hungary, Spain, and supported by the Secretariat of the OECD’s Forum on Tax Administration.

The 2020 report Tax Administration 3.0: The Digital Transformation of Tax Administration identified effective digital identity as one of the core building blocks for enabling seamless tax administration as it can help provide a secure connection between the systems of tax administrations and taxpayers. This report, Tax Administration 3.0 and the Digital Identification of Taxpayers: Initial Findings explores the current state of play on digital identity, the different domestic solutions adopted in a number of jurisdictions as well as the challenges related to cross-border processes. It also lays the groundwork for future collaborative work with business and other stakeholders in this area. This report was developed by officials from Australia, Canada, Finland, Indonesia, Spain, Norway, the United States, and supported by the Secretariat for the Forum on Tax Administration.

Dispute prevention is a fundamental tenet of tax certainty. Bilateral Advance Pricing Arrangements ('BAPAs'), in a growing number of cases, have successfully contributed to providing advance tax certainty to both taxpayers and tax administrations, ensuring predictability in the tax treatment of international transactions. However, stakeholders have identified obstacles that prevent an optimal use of BAPAs. In continuing with its commitment to advancing the tax certainty agenda, the FTA MAP Forum, in conjunction with the FTA Large Business International Programme, has developed the Bilateral Advance Pricing Arrangement Manual ('BAPAM’) which is intended as a guide for streamlining the BAPA process. The BAPAM provides tax administrations and taxpayers with information on the operation of BAPAs and identifies 29 best practices for BAPAs without imposing a set of binding rules. As part of the BAPAM’s development, tax administrations have committed to assessing whether implementation of these best practices is appropriate, considering the circumstances of their own BAPA programme and the unique features of each BAPA application, so that the best practices are applied appropriately and with enough flexibility to improve current BAPA processes. The BAPAM also highlights what tax administrations expect from taxpayers in the BAPA process to facilitate a cooperative and collaborative process.

Digital Services: Supporting SMEs to get Tax Right, by the OECD Forum on Tax Administration (FTA), is the third report in the FTA’s Supporting SMEs to Get Tax Right Series. This report looks at how digital services can help SMEs comply with their tax obligations, leading to reduced burdens and increased compliance rates. In addition to a number of examples from tax administrations, the report also highlights two detailed case studies. The report was developed by the Canada Revenue Agency with the support of the Forum on Tax Administration’s Community of Interest on SMEs.

The 2020 report Tax Administration 3.0: The Digital Transformation of Tax Administration identified the automated connection of systems between tax administrations and business as one as one of core building blocks of seamless tax administration. This report, Tax Administration 3.0 and Connecting with Natural System: Initial Findings, explores this issue in the context of sharing and gig economy platforms and identifies the key questions for businesses and tax administrations to consider. It also lays the ground work for future collaboration by identifying a possible technical framework to support these connections. This report was developed by officials from Australia, Canada, Denmark, Ireland, Israel, Finland, the United Kingdom, and supported by the Secretariat of the OECD’s Forum on Tax Administration.

The report Tax Capacity Building: A Practical Guide to Developing and Advancing Tax Capacity Building Programmes aims to assist tax administrations globally in advancing their tax capacity building programmes by describing good practices, by looking at tools and approaches that improve co-ordination, and by sharing knowledge. While the report primarily focuses on the development of a tax administration’s own capacity-building programme, elements of this report may also prove useful to those providing other forms of assistance, for example, through the support of programmes undertaken by the domestic development agency or through the support of regional or multilateral initiatives.