Tax collection

OECD

doi:https://doi.org/10.1787/tax_admin-2017-7-en

Tax Administration 2017

Comparative Information on OECD and Other Advanced and Emerging Economies

This report is the seventh edition of the OECD's Tax Administration Comparative Information Series. It provides internationally comparative data on important aspects of tax systems and their administration in 55 advanced and emerging economies. The format and approach for the 2017 edition of the publication has been revised. The commentary is now more succinct, focusing on significant tax administration issues and trends. It provides increased analysis, backed by more than 170 data tables and complemented by more than one-hundred examples of innovation and practice in tax administrations. It also features eight articles authored by officials working in participating tax administrations that provide an “inside view” on a range of topical issues tax administrations are managing. The report has three parts. The first contains seven chapters that examine and comment on tax administration performance and trends up to the end of the 2015 fiscal year. The second part presents the eight tax administration authored articles, while part three of the publication contains all the data tables which form the basis of the analysis in this report as well as details of the administrations that participated in this publication.

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https://doi.org/10.1787/tax_admin-2017-en

Chapter

Tax collection

The primary purpose of a tax administration is the collection of tax revenue on behalf of citizens to fund the work of the government. Administrations, in serving the public interest, look to collect the proper amount of tax due to the government at the least economic cost, while conducting their operations in an efficient and effective manner. Given most administrations rely on taxpayers meeting payment obligations of their own accord (voluntary compliance); they perform their role as tax collectors giving careful regard to the relationship of trust that needs to exist between them and their customers. Before examining in Chapters 3 to 7 how tax administrations go about the tasks of tax collection, it is appropriate to look at their importance to governments and economies in discharging their primary role. In this respect, this chapter provides information on the aggregate net tax revenues collected as well as other key figures related to activities of the administrations covered in this publication.

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