1. INSTITUTIONAL ARRANGEMENTS FOR TAX ADMINISTRATION – 55

Table 1.7. Special body for procedural justice/dealing with tax-related complaints

1/. Cyprus: For direct taxes an additional body is the Tax Tribunal. Hong Kong, Luxembourg: Information relates to office of Government Ombudsman (or equivalent title); Colombia: Title of office in Spanish is “defensoria del contribuyente” and website address is www.dian.gov.co/content/defensoria/index.htm}; Denmark: By Danish law, the “ombudsman” title may only be used by the official Parliament ombudsman. As such, SKAT does not have an ombudsman; instead, it has a Citizen Ambassador and a Head of Public Security with the following mandates: 1) By authority of Danish Tax Law § 14, 3, and 64, the Citizen Ambassador – ”Borgerambassadøren” – has the following mandate: Any tax payer who is unhappy with the mode or outcome of a tax matter or settlement, may complain to the Citizen Ambassador as a second instance, in case he is unhappy with the outcome of his first complaint through the regular instances; and 2) Retssikkerhedschef” – Head of Public Security. Has the authority to change rules and procedures on the grounds of specific inquiries or experience gained in the administration itself, to ensure that rule of law and public security is met; France: Mediator of the Republic is competent for all issues between citizens and public service (not only tax administration); Mediator of the Ministry of Finances is competent for issues between taxpayers and tax administration; Hungary: Commissioner for Fundamental Rights and National Authority for Data Protection and Freedom of Information. (See www.ajbh.hu/allam/eng/index.htm and www.naih.hu/general-information.html). Luxembourg: The Ombudsman (“médiateur”) has as mission to receive the claims of all people aimed at Article 2, paragraph (1) of the law of August 22nd, 2003 instituting a “médiateur”. The claim has to be formulated on the occasion of an affair which concerns the person, relating to the functioning of the administrations of the country and of the municipalities, as well as the state-owned companies recovering from the country and from the municipalities, with the exception of their industrial activities, financial and commercial. The Ombudsman can deal with complaints raised by taxpayers; South Africa: The Tax Administration Act, 2011, which was passed by Parliament in 2011 and commenced on 1 October 2012 makes provision for the appointment of an independent Tax Ombud by the Minister of Finance; Spain: The Office of the Taxpayers’ Counsel (Consejo para del Contribuyente) is regulated by Royal Decree 1676/2009; it is a college of supervisors attached to the Secretariat of State for Finances; Spain: The Office of the Taxpayers’ Counsel (Consejo para del Contribuyente) is regulated by Royal Decree 1676/2009; it is a college of supervisors attached to the Secretariat of State for Finances; Turkey: An internal complaints management system is being piloted in 2012; United Kingdom: HMRC operates a complaints process based on 2 internal tiers, an independent tier (tier 3 – the Adjudicator) and then the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (generally tier 4);

/2. Cyprus: From Feb 2013 activities of Tax Tribunal have been suspended by a decision of the Council of Ministers

Bibliography

Barrand, P., G. Harrison and S. Ross (2004), Integrating Tax and Social Security Contribution Collections within a Unified Revenue Administration: The Experience of Central and Eastern European Countries, IMF, Washington.

Bakirtzi, E. and K.U. Leuven (2010), Case Studies in Merging the Administrations of Social Security Contribution and Taxation, European Institute of Social Security (EISS).

Crandall, W. (2010) Revenue Administration: Autonomy in Tax Administration and the Revenue Authority Model, IMF, Washington, pp. 1-4.

Delay, Devas, and Hubbard (1998), The Reform of Revenue Administration: A Study for the Department for International Development (DFID), The School of Public Policy, University of Birmingham, p. 39.

TAX ADMINISTRATION 2013: COMPARATIVE INFORMATION ON OECD AND OTHER ADVANCED AND EMERGING ECONOMIES – © OECD 2013

56 – 1. INSTITUTIONAL ARRANGEMENTS FOR TAX ADMINISTRATION

DFID (2005), Revenue Authorities and Taxation in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Concise Review of Recent Literature from the Investment, Competition and Enabling Environment Team, Department for International Development, London.

European Commission (2007), Fiscal Blueprints – A Path to a Robust, Modern and Efficient Tax Administration, Luxembourg: Office for Official Publications of the European Commission, pp. 13-20.

Federal Administration of Public Revenues (AFIP) (2007), “Integration of the Administration of Internal Taxes, Customs Duties and Social Security Contributions”, 41st Assembly of CIAT, Buenos Aires.

Jenkins, G. P. (1994), Modernisation of Tax Administration: Revenue Boards and Privatisation as Instruments for Change, International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation, Amsterdam.

Kidd, M. and W. Crandall (2006), Revenue Authorities: Issues and Problems in Evaluating their Success, IMF, Washington, p. 12.

Mann, A. (2004), Are Semi-Autonomous Revenue Authorities the Answer to Tax Administration Problems in Developing Countries? A Practical Guide, USAID, Washington.

National Revenue Agency of Bulgaria (2009), Law of the National Revenue Agency, www. nra.bg (accessed July 2012).

Taliercio, R. (2004), Designing for Performance: The Semi-Autonomous Revenue Authority Model in Africa and South America, World Bank, Washington.

TAX ADMINISTRATION 2013: COMPARATIVE INFORMATION ON OECD AND OTHER ADVANCED AND EMERGING ECONOMIES – © OECD 2013