An international comparative analysis of self assessment: What lessons are there for tax administrators?
Source: Australian Tax Forum Journal Article
Published Date: 1 Oct 2005
There have been many tax regimes over the last two decades that have moved either to a full or partial system of self assessment. While the reasons for adopting self assessment vary, the most fundamental (and common) reason appears to have been the desire to achieve administrative cost savings. However, an important consequence of self assessment has been that taxpayers have had to assume greater responsibility for their tax affairs and this in turn has implications for tax compliance.
This paper compares and contrasts the implementation and operation of self assessment in eight countries namely the United States, Canada, Japan, Pakistan, Bangladesh, New Zealand, Australia, and the United Kingdom. Some of these countries were early adopters of self assessment, while others are still in the early stages of implementation. Further, some countries have moved to a complete self assessment system, while others have implemented partial systems. There are also variations between these regimes in terms of the supporting mechanisms including penalty provisions, enforcement, post assessment reviews and the ease of compliance. Furthermore, taxpaying culture and attitudes differ across regimes.
From this international comparative analysis emerge lessons for tax administrators on how best to implement and support self assessment, and at the same time, manage compliance risks and improve voluntary compliance. These lessons have relevance to all regimes, as the ongoing need for tax reform is undoubtedly a global phenomenon.
Sorry, this is subscriber only content.
To gain access to this material and much more - Subscribe Now.
(Note: Members can access Taxation in Australia journal articles without a Tax Knowledge Exchange subscription - please log in to access).
Already a Subscriber? Login now
Already a Subscriber? Login now
Details
- Published By: Ern Chen Loo, Ann Hansford, Margaret Mckerchar
- Published On:1 Oct 2005
The material is copyright. Apart any fair dealing for the purpose of private study, research criticism or review, as permitted under the copyright Act, no part may be reproduced by any process without written permission from The Tax Institute.
Unless expressly stated, opinions are not that of The Tax Institute, which accepts no responsibility for the accuracy of any of the information contained within it.
The Tax Institute
(ABN 45 008 392 372 (PRV14016))
("TTI")
The Tax Institute is a Recognised Tax Agent Association (RTAA) under the Tax Agent Services Regulations 2009.
Copyright Statement
All materials provided on this site are protected by copyright and are owned by or licensed to TTI.
Except as expressly permitted by TTI or the copyright owner, any person or company who uses this site must not use, reproduce, redistribute, retransmit, publish or otherwise transfer, or commercially exploit, the materials or any information, software or other content, in whole or in part, which is available through this site.
Tags
Share this page