Internal governance of co-operative compliance programmes within revenue bodies

Since the publication of the 2008 Study some commentators have questioned whether relationships based on the principles of co-operative compliance could affect the impartiality of the tax officials involved. Internal Governance arrangements are key for all revenue bodies that have introduced a Co-operative Compliance Programme. Within these programmes large taxpayers and revenue bodies base their relationship on mutual transparency, understanding and justified trust. This means that tax officials are expected to combine two roles: they are expected to maintain an open relationship with the taxpayer but they are also required to remain impartial and professional and to retain a critical attitude towards the taxpayer and the information and tax risks it discloses. The maintenance of taxpayer confidentiality is an important aspect of building trust and helps taxpayers share information more freely with the revenue body. At the same time it can be seen as an obstacle to the process of providing assurance to external stakeholders about the impartiality of the revenue body. Failure to maintain a professional critical attitude could have damaging effect on overall confidence in revenue bodies.