Effective and efficient Tax and Customs administration is a fundamental pillar of successful economic management and sustainable private sector growth
 
In developing and transition countries, where the tax base is often limited, effective and efficient Tax and Customs administration is of particular importance and is key to the following:

		collecting adequate revenue to finance crucial public sector spending programmes such as health, education and infrastructure;
		facilitating private sector growth and encouraging competitiveness - an inefficient customs service can hamper international trade, whilst inefficient tax administration can overburden companies with complicated rules and regulations without achieving the desired revenue collection to justify it; and
		supporting effective tax and trade policy formulation (our expertise in these related policy areas is covered under the sections Public Finance and International Trade respectively).

In response, we have established a team that is committed to helping governments design and implement tax and customs modernisation and to realise tangible increases in headline revenues and overall efficiency.
 

Our approach and expertise
 
We have extensive expertise across the whole range of taxes, from direct income-based taxes to indirect sales taxes and VAT. Our approach is to build sustainable administrative capacity by providing expert advice, tailored training, skill development and mentoring. This has proved to deliver greater benefits than the more traditional approach of assigning consultants to fill line positions, an approach that often reduces capacity after the project is finished.
 
Our global network of tax and customs experts covers all strategic, planning, operational and technical levels. Our experts have in-depth knowledge of best practice techniques and approaches, gained during careers with the leading tax and customs authorities across the world (including the UK, New Zealand, Australia, Canada, USA, Europe and Latin America). This expertise is enhanced by experience in overseas technical assistance projects, giving the team an essential appreciation of the constraints and challenges facing developing and transition countries.
 
Our worldwide Tax and Customs administration experience includes many long-term large-scale modernisation programmes with multi-million dollar budgets. In the last three years alone, we have worked on major projects in Uganda, Syria, Tanzania, Egypt, Swaziland, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Morocco, Jordan, Maldives, Tunisia and United Arab Emirates (UAE). These projects, financed by the leading donor agencies and by national governments, have included work in integrated revenue authorities as well as in separate tax or customs departments.
 

Our track record

Examples of the type of our tax and customs reform work includes:

		Reforming and modernising tax and customs operations by re-engineering methodologies, procedures and systems. This is often accompanied by legislative reform to support new operations; by the development of user manuals and documented procedures; and by extensive training both through formal courses and through on-the-job mentoring.
		Establishing and modernising integrated revenue authorities. This includes organisational reform along functional lines as well as the harmonisation and streamlining of revenue procedures, practices and IT systems to benefit from synergy.
		Reducing the cost, complexity and intrusiveness of tax and customs administration using customs and tax intelligence; risk management; self-assessment; audit targeting; taxpayer facilitation; and information technology applications.
		Initiating institutional reform to improve organisational structures and management systems; advising on human resource policy including performance management; and designing and implementing tailor-made staff development programmes.
		Advising on the design, installation, and implementation of new automated IT systems to increase the efficiency and transparency of operations. Work includes configuration and migration to pre-existing proprietary systems, and the design and development of specifically tailored full life-cycle systems.