Paolo Ciocca new OECD Chair of CFA

The OECD has announced the appointment of a new Chair of its Committee on Fiscal Affairs (CFA), Mr Paolo Ciocca of Italy. Mr Ciocca takes up his duties on 1 April, replacing Mr Bill McCloskey of Canada. The Committee is the leading global body for setting international standards for tax and oversees the creation and maintenance of publications such as the OECD Model Tax Convention, which forms the basis for more than 2600 bilateral tax treaties, the Transfer Pricing Guidelines and regular publications such as “Revenue Statistics”and “Taxing Wages” which assist governments in reforming their taxes.

Mr Ciocca is currently the Director-General of the Tax Policy Department of the Italian Ministry of Economy and Finances. His previous experience includes being Head of Taxation at the Italian Banking Association and an Economic Adviser on international taxation for various Ministers of Finance in Italy. He brings a wide understanding and experience of international issues to the Committee on which he has served as the main Italian delegate for several years.

Commenting on his election he said, “I am looking forward to chairing this OECD committee. Tax is an increasingly important issue for Finance Ministers as they face the challenges of raising revenue to meet citizens’ expectations for delivery of efficient public services and at the same time using tax systems to achieve social and economic objectives.

In today’s more open environment international tax arrangements are of increased importance, for both large and small countries and to business and governments. I intend to ensure that the OECD maintains its leadership in developing these rules, doing so in close co-operation with non-OECD economies. I am particularly keen to speed up the Committee’s work on exchange of information and to develop international guidelines for consumption taxes.

Strengthening tax administration in general is also critical for the effective and efficient application of tax policy and the Committee will continue to give emphasis in this area.

The OECD is ideally placed, with many years of dealing successfully with difficult international tax issues and having built a robust network of tax administration officials, to tackle these challenges.”