New Chair of OECD Tax Commissioner Forum announced
OECD Secretary General Angel Gurría has welcomed the announcement today of the new Chair of the OECD’s Forum on Tax Administration, [private]Douglas H. Shulman of the United States.
“The OECD’s Forum on Tax Administration, is the leading global body in the field of tax administration. We congratulate Commissioner Shulman and look forward to working closely with him on important administration issues,” Secretary-General Gurría said.
The Forum, or FTA, allows Tax Commissioners from 41 advanced economies to confer and develop new ideas to enhance tax administration around the world. The Forum also gathers and publishes good practices in its participating countries on a wide range of tax compliance and taxpayer services issues and in recent years, commissioned a series of reports focusing on the compliance of large business and very wealthy taxpayers.
Mr Shulman currently serves as Commissioner of the United States Internal Revenue Service (IRS). His previous career experience includes being vice chairman of the U.S. Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) and vice chairman of the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD). Earlier in his career he was a Senior Policy Advisor and later Chief of Staff of the National Commission on Restructuring the IRS, and also served as a Vice President of a private investment firm.
Commenting on his election, Mr. Shulman said, “I look forward to chairing the OECD’s Forum on Tax Administration during these particularly challenging times. Nations across the globe face the harsh reality of declining tax revenues brought about by the economic slowdown and made worse by illegal offshore tax abuse. The OECD and FTA, with the active involvement of its Tax Commissioners, are ideally positioned to provide the experience, expertise and strategies to help governments pay for critical services and contribute to economic recovery efforts.”
The IRS Commissioner and new FTA Chair also observed: “I am also particularly keen to lead the Forum in building greater cooperation between tax administrations across the world as we work to improve tax compliance both domestically and internationally. This could include utilizing innovative techniques such as joint audits to leverage our enforcement resources and streamline our mutual cross-border work. There is much we can learn from each other and I welcome this important dialogue.”
Mr. Shulman will assume his duties on 18 August, replacing Mr. Pravin Gordhan who was recently appointed Minister for Finance in South Africa. [/private]