On 19 July 2021 the OECD’s Forum on Tax Administration published a document entitled Tax Administration: Towards Sustainable Remote Working in a post COVID-19 Environment.

During the pandemic many tax administrations needed to introduce remote working by staff on a large scale. This needed changes to tax administration processes and they needed to draft new policies to deal with the situation. Generally, tax administrations were able to continue carrying out their main functions during the pandemic with the help of the adoption of remote working.

Tax administrations are now considering how they will organise their work after the pandemic, and the possible advantages that may arise from a continuation of remote working to a larger extent than in the past. This can help staff to improve their work/life balance and the flexibility would allow tax administrations to be better prepared to withstand any future emergencies.

The tax administration would become a more attractive employer for potential staff who are not located near to the relevant offices. Also, taxpayer services could be offered beyond the traditional working hours where staff were willing to be flexible.

A reduced requirement for office space could enable tax administrations to decrease the carbon footprint of their office buildings and achieve environmental benefits in addition to those achieved from reduced commuting.

There are also various challenges associated with greater home working. These include the need to provide access by staff to suitable information technology and remote IT support arrangements. Also important are the security and data protection requirements that might be harder to implement in the case of home working.

There would need to be a review of employment contracts and policies and possible revisions. The contractual obligations between the employer and the employee may involve important rights and protections that would be impacted by a move towards more remote working. Tax administrations may have an opportunity to draft more geographically mobile contracts with more flexible use of resources in different departments of the organisation when required.

Another issue is the level of service given to taxpayers when the tax administration staff are working from home. The tax administration will need to adopt measures to ensure the taxpayers are receiving the required levels of professionalism and service, and there are also potential issues concerning the security of taxpayer data.

To support tax administrations with the challenges arising from remote working, a risk assessment tool has been developed and pre-populated with some suggested risks. The tool provides a framework for tax administrations to review the risks involved in moving to remote working and to consider strategies to mitigate the risks.