Tax Inspectors without Borders

Facts for Prelims

Tax Inspectors without Borders

News: Recently, TIWB has been in the news because India has launched a TIWB programme to help Saint Lucia in strengthening its tax administration.

Background:
• This programme is the seventh TIWB programme which India has supported by providing Tax Experts. The focus of the programme will be on effective use of automatic exchange of information under the Common Reporting Standard (CRS) framework. This programme is expected to be of 12-18 months’ duration.

About:
• Tax Inspectors Without Borders (TIWB) is a joint initiative of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). The initiative aims to support countries in building tax audit capacity. It sends expert tax auditors to assistance-requesting host administrations to build audit capacity around the world.
• The goal is to enhance capacity in the tax audit practice of the developing country tax administration (Host Administration). Through TIWB Programmes, the Host Administration benefits by improving the quality and consistency of its audits, which in turn brings greater certainty and potentially more revenues for the Host Administration.