Technical Assistance for Revenue Administration and Revenue Policy - Burma

Resident advisor helped the Internal Revenue Department (IRD) establish a Large Taxpayer Office (LTO) function and provided guidance on implementation of a self-assessment regime, which will have the greatest impact on revenue and taxpayer participation at the corporate level. The project provides assistance in self-assessment to taxpayers, explaining the new filing requirements and common errors; coaches the LTO in project management, due to the overwhelming amount of foundation building and change required of this immature tax administration; and provides classroom and on-the-job training and development to support basic and specialized industry audits and collections. The resident and intermittent advisors focus efforts on ensuring accuracy of returns and payment of obligations, improving operational efficiency and effectiveness, and supporting voluntary compliance. Site visits from 2014 - 2016 put in place and further developed procedures and training for audit, collections, and public relations. Starting in late 2016 and continuing into 2017, the project provided classroom-based and on-the-job audit training to the Medium Taxpayer Office 1 (MTO #1) to support implementation of a self-assessment regime for medium-sized businesses and to provide training and guidance in rolling out arrears procedures and management information report. During 2017, the project focused on strengthening the audit processes and practices within the LTO and began developing a compliance improvement program (CIP). In 2018, the project supported CIP implementation, using taxpayer service, audit, media relations and legislative tools and focusing initially on the construction industry. Advisors provided guidance and assistance in consolidating and developing taxpayer services with the recently established Taxpayer Service Unit, further expansion of self-assessment to the Medium Taxpayer Office 2 (MTO #2), and creation of a centralized processing function that consolidates processing sta