Effectiveness of Rwandan Law of Tax Administration in addressing Tax Offences

IV.5.3 Establishing task force of experts to advise tax RRA

Independent task forces, comprising of external experts and representatives, should be established, to advise RRA on certain strategies or initiatives. Task forces can add value by offering different perspectives and alternative strategies to deal with emerging issues.

For example, The Technical Committee can be established with the following objectives:

· Simplifying the taxation of business income to facilitate compliance by taxpayers and administration by RRA.

· Enhancing fairness in the tax system by ensuring that all businesses share the cost of providing government services.

· Encouraging the taxpayers to play a greater role in ensuring the integrity of the tax system

· Implementing new strategies to encourage self-regulation within industries

· Working with other agencies to help educate new businesses about their taxation obligations

· Making taxation payments easier

· Relaxing reporting requirements for businesses with good tax records whilst making reporting obligations more onerous for those with bad tax records.

IV.5.4 Cross border activity46(*)

Complex international arrangements increase tax risk because, often, a small part only of the arrangement can be identified in one country but can significantly reduce taxes across multiple jurisdictions. The lack of information exchange amongst revenue agencies means that these activities often go undetected.

The most effective countermeasure against such arrangements is to work closely with counterparts in neighbouring countries as well as other major trade partners, by sharing information on specific arrangements or taxpayers and undertaking coordinated, simultaneous audits where appropriate. In order to share information, exchange of information provisions in agreements for the avoidance of double taxation or in Customs MOUs is required. Therefore, it is important to expand the existing network of treaties, especially with major trading partners. Cross border arbitrage involves the use by large businesses of complex structuring and hybrid financial instruments to obtain benefits, such as duplicate deductions or credits, not intended by law, or designed to take advantage of inconsistencies between the laws of different jurisdictions. Transfer pricing on the other hand revolves around outcomes that are not in line with the «arm's length principle».

* ⁴⁶ Next Steps in RRA Modernisation, IMF Report, October 2007, P 27