Digital Taxation: A new YouTube video,
a new partnership, and upcoming events!
Friends,
It has been a while since we last sent out a Taxpayer Rights Digest, but we haven’t been inactive during this time. (For example, I testified on May 11th at a hearing of the Senate Finance Committee’s Subcommittee on Taxation and IRS Oversight about the Tax Gap and Offshore Noncompliance.) The Center has been holding lots of preparation calls with the panelists for the 5th International Conference on Taxpayer Rights, and I have to say, this is going to the best conference we’ve held yet. There is still time to register, just click on the button below. Remember that it is from 26 to 28 May, 2021, with the first day being a workshop on starting and expanding Tax Clinics for low income and other underrepresented taxpayers. On May 27 and 28, the theme of the conference is Quality Tax Audits and the Protection of Taxpayer Rights.
You may recall that in March of this year we held a Tax Chat! with some of the folks who are members of DigiTax, an interdisciplinary project at the University of Antwerp that is exploring the impact of digitalization on taxation. Their topics of study not only cover the digital economy but also how tax authorities engage with taxpayers digitally and use artificial intelligence and data in tax administration.
The Tax Chat! discussion was just fascinating and it is now uploaded to the Center’s YouTube channel – you can find a link to it below. Our discussion really highlights the challenges in balancing taxpayer privacy interests with the government’s legitimate interest in ensuring compliance with the tax laws. If you are at all interested in this topic, you really should watch the video.
The folks at DigiTax are also helping produce a free online lecture series, Tax & Digital Transformation, which is “aimed at tax professionals in governments, academia, think tanks, international organizations, and the private sector that work in the intersection of tax and digital.” The series is in partnership with VIA University College, the World Bank, Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC), and the Prosperity Collaborative, and they have asked the Center for Taxpayer Rights to join in (we said YES, of course…). You can learn more about this lecture series here and also access recordings and materials from past lectures.
There is an upcoming lecture on Tuesday, May 18 on Digital Transformation in Customs; it will be held from 3 to 4 pm CET/ 9 to 10 am EDT. And on June 10, they will have a lecture on AI and Fundamental Rights in Taxation, a topic near and dear to my heart. You can sign up for the zoom link to attend the May 18 lecture here:
Well, that is all for now. Please check out the schedule and agenda for the 5th International Conference on Taxpayer Rights – I’m really looking forward to “seeing” folks online, and only wish we could meet in Athens in person.
All the best,
Nina
Nina E. Olson
Executive Director