In this article, the authors discuss how taxpayers and tax authorities alike can use impact evaluation to examine the effects of cooperative compliance programs. More specifically, they consider how to design an impact evaluation that can thoroughly assess the outcomes of the International Compliance Assurance Program (ICAP), a new project that the OECD hopes will provide early certainty, offer assurances regarding tax obligations, and promote the efficient use of resources by both tax administrations and taxpayers.

The second edition of the Impact Evaluation in Practice handbook is a comprehensive and accessible introduction to impact evaluation for policy makers and development practitioners. First published in 2011, it has been used widely across the development and academic communities. The book incorporates real-world examples to present practical guidelines for designing and implementing impact evaluations. Readers will gain an understanding of impact evaluations and the best ways to use them to design evidence-based policies and programs. The updated version covers the newest techniques for evaluating programs and includes state-of-the-art implementation advice, as well as an expanded set of examples and case studies that draw on recent development challenges. It also includes new material on research ethics and partnerships to conduct impact evaluation. The handbook is divided into four sections: Part One discusses what to evaluate and why; Part Two presents the main impact evaluation methods; Part Three addresses how to manage impact evaluations; Part Four reviews impact evaluation sampling and data collection. Case studies illustrate different applications of impact evaluations. The book links to complementary instructional material available online, including an applied case as well as questions and answers. The updated second edition will be a valuable resource for the international development community, universities, and policy makers looking to build better evidence around what works in development.

Prominent among initiatives addressing the urgent need for a common understanding between multinational enterprises (MNEs) and national tax authorities about risks and risk assessment is the International Compliance Assurance Programme (ICAP), which provides a channel for MNEs to engage in simultaneous discussions with multiple national tax administrations, thus enhancing the potential for advance tax assurance. To a certain extent, the ICAP represents the internationalization of Co-operative Compliance frameworks which were, until then, restricted within the borders of single jurisdictions. This book is the first to investigate Co-operative Compliance alongside with the ICAP, describing developments in twelve countries (Australia, Austria, Canada, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Spain, the United Kingdom, and the United States). Following a general introduction, two opening perspectives on the ICAP are presented, one from the OECD and one from a participating tax administration (the Netherlands), leading to the twelve country reports and a special chapter on transfer pricing, which is the main issue in international tax disputes. Specific elements reviewed include the following: criteria to enter the programme; the range of taxes covered by the programme; real-time consultation procedures; appeal procedures within the programme; the possibility to ‘agree to disagree’ and to continue Co-operative Compliance even in cases of litigation; risk management strategies within tax authorities; corporate administrative compliance burden; and main sources of tax uncertainty. Country reports are contributed by tax professionals and tax academics experienced in dealing with Co-operative Compliance and the ICAP. Each report addresses the same questions, so that all the reports cover the same features of domestic relationship approaches and the ICAP. A final chapter reviews the collected contributions and offers some concluding remarks. Although the ICAP process probably will undergo further adjustments, it is certain that the road to more international cooperation between tax authorities and MNEs is now open. This timely book, as a comparative review of the implementation of the ICAP among leading jurisdictions active in global trade, provides matchless insights into trends, similarities, differences and their implications. It will be welcomed by all stakeholders in the international tax community, including lawyers, taxation authorities and academics.

This report examines the relationship between large business taxpayers and revenue bodies, five years on from the publication of the FTA’s Study into the Role of Tax Intermediaries.

Contains an inventory of evaluation reports produced by and for selected Federal agencies, including GAO evaluation reports that relate to the programs of those agencies.

Impact evaluation aims to answer whether and to what extent a development intervention has delivered its intended effects, thus enabling evidence-based policy making. The desire for more hard evidence of the effectiveness of development interventions has fueled a growing interest in rigorous impact evaluation in the international development community. This report discusses the fundamental challenge of impact evaluation, which is to credibly attribute the impact, if any, to the intervention concerned. It then discusses the merits and limitations of various impact evaluation methods. It also presents a survey of recent applications of impact evaluation, focusing on the typical evaluation problems looked at, methods used, and key findings. The report includes six case studies and outlines practical steps in implementing an impact evaluation.