The OECD’s Forum on Tax Administration is to meet on Thursday in Cape Town to discuss new trends in global business and wealth management and the implications for revenue bodies. The forum brings together senior tax administrators from OECD and non-OECD countries to share information and experiences and to develop successful international best practices for resolving particular tax administration issues. As well as addressing how to improve the relationship between revenue bodies, taxpayers and tax intermediaries, the forum will discuss the conclusions and recommendations of a study on the role of tax intermediaries which was launched at the Seoul meeting in 2006 and is known as the Seoul Declaration. This declaration committed participating countries to using national, regional and multilateral initiatives to achieve better compliance with the tax laws working within the existing framework of bilateral agreements and, if needed, to explore the need for new tools to assist in the detection of international non-compliance. It identified four areas in which to intensify existing work or initiate new work under the auspices of the OECD: • Further developing the directory of aggressive tax planning schemes so as to identify trends and measures to counter such schemes. • Examining the role of tax intermediaries – law and accounting firms, other tax advisors and financial institutions – in relation to non-compliance and the promotion of unacceptable tax minimisation arrangements. • Expanding its 2004 Corporate Governance Guidelines to give greater attention to the linkage between tax and good governance. • Improving the training of tax officials on international tax issues, including the secondment of officials from one administration to another. The forum was established by the OECD Committee on Fiscal Affairs in 2002 to promote cooperation between revenue bodies and to develop good tax administration practices. It has examined a wide range of issues in the areas of risk management, taxpayer services and use of modern technology. The meeting will be opened by Trevor Manuel, South Africa’s Minister of Finance, and Pier Carlo Padoan, Deputy Secretary-General of OECD.