Delegates from 49 jurisdictions and other stakeholders attending the OECD Forum on Tax Administration discussed ways to tackle tax gaps, reduce compliance burdens, and improve revenue collection and tax certainty.
The OECD Forum on Tax Administration (FTA) held its 18th annual Plenary meeting in Cape Town, South Africa, on 18–20 November 2025, bringing together tax commissioners and delegates from 49 jurisdictions, as well as representatives from international organisations, regional tax administration bodies, business and academia.
Commissioners and delegates from three African non-FTA member tax administrations also actively participated in the event.
The meeting concluded with participants agreeing to launch joint initiatives to ease compliance burdens and strengthen cooperation to address tax gaps.
Under the theme of tackling tax gaps and reducing compliance burdens, delegates discussed initiatives to strengthen revenue collection, support economic growth and enhance tax certainty.
As a result of these discussions, Commissioners agreed to:
- Extend their practical collaboration to support digital transformation by moving towards pilots that implement their work on real-time automated sharing of secure information which can reduce compliance burdens, as well as endorsing further work on existing projects.
- Deepen their co-operation on driving down tax debts, as well as sharing their experiences of how technology can reduce tax gaps.
- Support the effective implementation of the Global Minimum Tax, including through peer-to-peer support for developing countries, and enhance their tax certainty framework to help achieve early tax certainty and minimise disputes, as core elements of effective tax administration.
- Enhance their collective efforts on tax capacity building to support domestic resource mobilisation in developing countries, in co-operation with regional tax organisations, for example, through support of the OECD/UNDP Tax Inspectors Without Borders 2.0 programme.
Commissioner Bob Hamilton, from the Canada Revenue Agency and current Chair of the FTA, said, “It has been an honour to serve as FTA Chair since 2020. Throughout this period, I have been inspired by my fellow Commissioners and their commitment to improving global tax administration. With the important actions agreed upon at this year’s Plenary, and under the leadership of Commissioner Schanke-Funnemark, I’m confident that our efforts will continue to drive meaningful progress.”
This progress of tax administration is also the key focus of the 2025 edition of the OECD’s Tax Administration Series, which was released this week. Containing a wealth of comparative data and other information, the report gives a 10-year perspective on the evolution of tax administration and how the rise of artificial intelligence is shaping the future of tax administration.
During the event, delegates also welcomed the new Chair of the FTA, Commissioner Nina Schanke-Funnemark from the Norwegian Tax Administration. After five years of serving as the FTA Chair, Commissioner Bob Hamilton will be stepping down as the Chair at the end of 2025. Commissioner Schanke-Funnemark, who brings considerable experience and knowledge to the position, said, “I would like to thank Bob Hamilton for his leadership of the FTA. I am excited and honoured to become the FTA Chair. I hope to continue to bring to life the FTA’s vision for the future of tax administration and turn it into a reality.”
Manal Corwin, Director of the OECD’s Centre for Tax Policy and Administration, commented, “We are deeply grateful for Bob Hamilton’s leadership of the FTA over the last five years. Under his guidance, the FTA has been able to support tax administrations in some turbulent times, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, and he has helped the FTA develop into a truly global centre of expertise in tax administration.”
Further information on the Plenary discussions, FTA reports, including the latest edition of the Tax Administration Series, the recent Maturity Models, and the FTA’s future work programme, is available in the Statement of Outcomes.
