Tax Inspectors Without Borders Boosting Revenues For Developing States

by Ulrika Lomas, Tax-News.com, Brussels

25 November 2016

More than USD260m in tax revenues has been generated through the Tax Inspectors Without Borders (TIWB) initiative since its launch in July last year, the OECD announced on November 22.

The TIWB project was launched in July 2015 to support developing nations address base erosion and profit shifting. It provides support and training from highly qualified tax experts, in particular to support audits of multinationals' affairs.

According to the OECD, eight pilot projects – in countries spanning the globe from Africa to Asia and Latin America – have resulted in more than USD260m in additional tax revenues to date. This includes more than USD100m in new tax revenues generated through TIWB audits in Zimbabwe, which the OECD said demonstrates the tremendous potential for future projects.

Thirteen projects are underway worldwide, in Botswana, Costa Rica, Ethiopia, Georgia, Ghana, Jamaica, Lesotho, Liberia, Malawi, Nigeria, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. A range of new programs will launch in the coming year, including new deployments of auditors to Republic of Congo, Egypt, Uganda, Cameroon, and Vietnam. This will also include the first South-South co-operation project under the TIWB initiative, which will see Kenyan auditors deployed to Botswana in 2017, the OECD said.

James Karanja, head of the TIWB Secretariat, commented: "Developing countries face serious challenges in raising domestic resources to fund basic government services, and tax avoidance by multinational enterprises is a complicating factor. The TIWB program is demonstrating how effective capacity building can make a difference toward the goal of ensuring that all companies pay their fair share of tax."

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