Multilateral center launched to improve ability in collection
The State Administration of Taxation has been cooperating with the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development in offering taxation training for nearly 20 years.
In July 2015, Premier Li Keqiang visited the OECD headquarters in Paris to sign agreements that prioritize cooperation in tax matters.
To implement the commitment of the G20 countries to help developing countries improve their ability in taxation collection and management and deepen cooperation, the administration also signed a memorandum of cooperation with the OECD to build an OECD-SAT multilateral tax center in China.
The center, the first of its kind in a country outside of OECD members, is designed to provide training to taxation officials from developing countries, marking a new phase of cooperation between the Chinese administration and the OECD.
The administration also cooperated with Canada Revenue Agency in launching a tax administration capacity building project at the Forum on Tax Administration.
The project is aimed to prompt G20 members, OECD members and other major economies to use resources more efficiently to help developing countries participate in global taxation cooperation and deal with the challenges of Base Erosion and Profit Shifting.
The multilateral tax center will play a crucial role in the process and promote China's capacity building in taxation as well as the country's participation in global taxation cooperation and exchanges.
The administration plans to further improve the development and management of the center and build it into a well-managed, efficient international platform for publicity of tax knowledge.
The administration will also actively follow international taxation reform backed by G20 countries and the changes of international taxation rules, help other developing countries improve their abilities in taxation collection and management, improve the governance of the international taxation system, build a positive image of the country's reliability and create a sound tax environment for international economic cooperation.
The author is deputy director, International Taxation Department, the State Administration of Taxation.
(China Daily 05/11/2016 page6)
