Tax Administration and Revenue Collection Training Course for Revenue Heads

Programme Summary

Tax administration and revenue collection is the subject of this five-day training course for heads of revenue bodies, revenue directors and senior finance officials at strategic level, ending in a revenue improvement plan for one revenue body. Governments depend on revenue that is declared, paid and collected on time, yet weak risk targeting and slow arrears recovery leave money uncollected. The approach moves from diagnosis of the revenue body, through compliance risk and taxpayer service, to collection, forecasting and reporting, then a worked improvement plan. Mars Training Centre UK delivers this programme in tax administration and revenue collection.

The Business Case

A revenue body that treats every taxpayer alike spends audit and collection effort where it returns least. Leaders who rank risks, sequence collection action and track results can direct limited staff towards the cases that matter and explain performance with evidence.

• Voluntary Compliance: Rises as service, clear rules and risk-based enforcement are matched to taxpayer groups.
• Arrears Recovery Rate: Improves as outstanding debt is aged, ranked and treated in a set order.
• Forecast Accuracy: Strengthens as collections are tracked against drivers and variances are explained.

Principles and Evidence Base

• Tax Administration Diagnostic Assessment Tool (TADAT): Its nine performance outcome areas, including integrity of the taxpayer base and effective risk management, structure the diagnosis in Session 1.
• OECD compliance risk management guidance: Its cycle of identifying, assessing, ranking, treating and monitoring risks shapes the compliance work in Session 2.
• Pareto analysis: Ranking debt by value and age directs the collection effort in Session 3 towards the cases that hold most of the arrears.

Intended Participants

• Leaders who direct a revenue body or a major division and answer for collected revenue.
• Directors who set compliance strategy, audit programmes and taxpayer service standards.
• Senior officials who oversee debt management, filing and payment processes.
• Finance officials who forecast revenue and report collections.

The programme serves tax authorities, customs and revenue agencies, finance ministries and large state-owned entities.

Learning Outcomes

1. Participants will be able to evaluate the performance of a revenue body against the TADAT outcome areas.
2. Participants will be able to construct a compliance risk register with ranked treatments for taxpayer groups.
3. Participants will be able to prioritise outstanding debt by value and age and select a collection action for each tier.
4. Participants will be able to diagnose causes of late filing and late payment in a taxpayer segment.
5. Participants will be able to analyse a revenue forecast and explain variances between forecast and collection.
6. Participants will be able to justify a revenue improvement plan to a minister or governing board.

Programme Structure

Day 1: Diagnosing the Revenue Body

How well does the revenue body protect its taxpayer base and deliver revenue today?

• TADAT Performance Outcome Area Review
• Revenue Body Mandate and Operating Model Map
• Taxpayer Base Integrity Check
• Revenue Performance Indicator Set
• Governance and Stakeholder Map

Day 2: Compliance Risk and Taxpayer Service

Which compliance risks matter most, and how should each taxpayer group be treated?

• Compliance Risk Register
• OECD Risk Cycle Walkthrough
• Taxpayer Segmentation Matrix
• Audit Case Selection Criteria
• Taxpayer Service Channel Plan

Day 3: Filing, Payment and Revenue Collection

Where does revenue fall out between the return and the bank, and how is it recovered?

• Filing and Payment Gap Analysis
• Arrears Ageing Report
• Pareto Ranking of Outstanding Debt
• Collection Treatment Ladder
• Payment Arrangement and Write-Off Rules

Day 4: Forecasting, Performance and Reporting

How are revenue results forecast, tracked and reported with evidence?

• Revenue Forecast Model Review
• Collection Variance Bridge
• Compliance Programme Scorecard
• Executive Revenue Reporting Pack
• Revenue Risk Escalation Protocol

Day 5: Applying Tax Administration and Revenue Collection to One Revenue Body

Is the revenue improvement plan ready for a minister or governing board?

• Applying the Session 1 Diagnosis to the Chosen Revenue Body
• Testing the Session 2 Risk Register Against Taxpayer Segments
• Matching the Session 3 Treatment Ladder to Arrears Tiers
• Checking the Session 4 Forecast and Scorecard
• Completing the Revenue Improvement Plan

Methodology

The programme uses case analysis and structured exercises. Participants work in small teams with anonymised revenue data, filing records and arrears ledgers, and test each decision as a governing board would. No statistical software is required.

• Suggested activity: Segmenting a taxpayer list and assigning an approach to each group.
• Suggested activity: Ageing an arrears ledger and choosing collection actions for the top tier.
• Suggested activity: Explaining a monthly collection variance to a board in a one-page note.

Capstone Output

Each participant completes a revenue improvement plan for one revenue body. It holds a diagnosis summary, a compliance risk register, a collection treatment plan, a forecast and scorecard design and a reporting routine, and it is used to seek agreement from a minister, governing board or executive committee.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is tax administration and revenue collection suitable for leaders without a tax specialist background?

Yes. Tax administration and revenue collection is set at strategic level and assumes responsibility for revenue results or related processes, not specialist tax law knowledge.

Which frameworks does tax administration and revenue collection rest on in this training?

Tax administration and revenue collection rests on the TADAT outcome areas, the OECD compliance risk management cycle and Pareto analysis for ranking arrears.

How is the improvement plan from tax administration and revenue collection used at work?

You use the improvement plan from tax administration and revenue collection to seek agreement from a minister or board, brief managers and set compliance and collection priorities.

How does tax administration and revenue collection differ from a corporate tax planning programme?

Tax administration and revenue collection centres on running the revenue body, risk and collection, while a corporate tax planning programme centres on how a company manages its own tax position.