Host Administration
Is your tax administration looking to build tax audit capacity in order to increase revenue and improve taxpayer compliance?
A TIWB Programme can assist your tax administration by sending a TIWB Expert to work directly with tax administration officials on tax audits, sharing knowledge and providing expert assistance in the areas of direct or indirect tax, controlled foreign companies, e-commerce, international structuring and/or hybrid mismatches, residence/permanent establishment issues, thin capitalization, transfer pricing, treaty abuse cases, et al.
The Host Administration is the host country tax administration that receives and manages the expert assistance. It is the lead partner in a TIWB Programme. In this capacity, the Host Administration is responsible for ensuring an appropriate domestic framework for TIWB Programmes and for the selection of an appropriate expert from the experts proposed by the TIWB Secretariat. Before entering into a TIWB Programme, the Host Administration should ensure that the request for TIWB assistance fits within the Host Administration’s broader objectives and is adapted to the existing capabilities of its officials and the tax administration as a whole.
Participation in a TIWB Programme, which involves a foreign national expert working within the Host Administration, should normally be approved at the highest levels of the Host Tax Administration. In addition, a contact point within the Host Administration (for example, the head of the international tax division or large taxpayers unit) is responsible for the day-to-day management of the TIWB Expert during the course of the TIWB Programme.
Please refer to the Step-by-Step Guide for Host Administrations to establish a TIWB Programme for further details.
Getting started
Defining the scope of the audit assistance required by the Host Administration is the important first step to establish an effective TIWB Programme. The Host Administration uses the TIWB Assistance Request Form to notify the TIWB Secretariat of its request. The Form is meant to communicate key information about the scope of the TIWB Programme and the subjects that should be covered in it. The Host Administration should outline clearly the focus of the activities to be carried out during the TIWB Programme and whether the activities will be audit-related, such as risk assessment and case selection, or will focus on applying new or different audit techniques to an audit team's daily practice, or will cover specific fiscal subjects, such as transfer pricing, thin capitalisation, etc. The Host Administration should ensure that the TIWB Assistance Request fits within the Host Administration's broader objectives and is adapted to its current capacities. This enables the Host Administration to identify the essential elements of the assistance it requires, and the results it wants to achieve.
The Host Administration should ensure that there will be no duplication of the types of assistance that are requested or provided and should inform the TIWB Secretariat of all other requests for assistance they have made, or other programmes already in place. In case there are existing development assistance programmes in the host country (in particular, involving the tax administration or the Ministry of Finance), the Host Administration should also inform the respective donor partners about the proposed TIWB Programmes. Involvement of the existing donor partners could also provide opportunities to improve the impact and sustainability of the TIWB Programme.