1. Setting Up XBRL projects in Tax Administrations
Alex Fiteni CMA
Fiteni International LLC
24/02/2019
13th XBRL International Conference

2. 13th XBRL International Conference
Agenda
Introductions
XBRL in Tax Administrations
The Business Case
Key Stakeholders & benefits
The Framework Components
Planning the Project
Establishing a Communications Program
Developing the Taxonomy
Project Risks and Mitigations
Q&A
24/02/2019
13th XBRL International Conference

3. XBRL Taxonomies – integrating reporting supply chains
24/02/2019
13th XBRL International Conference

4. XBRL In Tax Administrations
Goals of a Standardized Business Reporting Project
Reduce the overall administrative burden of the entire compliance cycle
Improve the collection, accuracy and utility of the compliance reporting system
The Business Case
Improved accuracy and data quality
Reduced duplicate information gathering
Reduced interpretive nature of data (with a taxonomy)
Increased compliance rate
24/02/2019
13th XBRL International Conference

5. 13th XBRL International Conference
Key Stakeholders
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13th XBRL International Conference

6. 13th XBRL International Conference
Framework Components
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13th XBRL International Conference

7. The Implementation Strategy
Project methodology
Define a Project Charter
Assure funding is in place
Get Senior management and political commitments early
Best Practices
Complete an environmental scan
Obtain stakeholder buy in
Determine Tax Agency or cross-agency scope
Ensure software houses are involved in development
Business representation is key to success
Use an iterative approach rather than ‘Big Bang’
24/02/2019
13th XBRL International Conference

8. Establishing a Communications Program
A critical success factor is to keep all stakeholders informed of the status of the project:
Craft consistent and clear messages
Communicate with each stakeholder community regularly
Provide a feedback process to validate messages
Best Practices
Communications program integral to project organization
Consider a media professional
Stay on message
Make the benefits story often
24/02/2019
13th XBRL International Conference

9. 13th XBRL International Conference
Developing a Taxonomy
Goals and objectives
Scoping
Development
Documentation
Taxonomy management tools
Taxonomy maintenance
Best Practices
Keep it simple
Make it iterative
Use a collaborative approach
24/02/2019
13th XBRL International Conference

10. Project Funding – Direct and Indirect
Direct Stakeholders
Tax Agency
Intermediaries
Software Houses
Taxpayers
Indirect Beneficiaries
Agencies participating in project (and their ‘customers’)
Third party data analysts and distributors (where allowed)
Funding Sources
Government agencies’ budgets
Processing Fees
Reduction in taxes
Indirect Benefits
Reduced data entry costs
Increased accuracy
More timely receipt of information
Better funds management
24/02/2019
13th XBRL International Conference

11. Project Risks and Mitigations (sample)
Areas of Risk
Stakeholder Impacts
Risk
Mitigation
Timetable is set without reference to the scope, and resources available to fund the project.
Stakeholders feel their needs are not being met within the time constraints
Project fails due to lack of commitment
Ensure that time, funding, and resource levels are realistic.
Senior management commitment
Stakeholders are reluctant to participate in the project due to a lack of senior management commitment
The project falters or fails to gain traction amongst key stakeholders
Ensure the business case is clearly communicated to senior management and they officially sign up to sponsor key phases
Domain Expertise
Stakeholders do not provide the right resources to the project at the right time
Lack of the correct domain expertise at each stage of the project will delay or suspend the project until available
Options should be explored to ensure domain expertise is made available as required in the project
Insufficient incentives to ensure uptake by participating agencies
Lead agency is left to either delay the project or fund the project alone
Agency participation is lowered than expected
Review incentives that will garner full support from all stakeholders
Incentives to taxpayers is insufficient to ensure successful participation
Taxpayers and/or intermediaries do not want to sign up for project
Taxpayer participation is lower than expected
Changing political environment may change key project assumptions
Each stakeholder group may be required to modify their working assumptions for the project
Project scope is subject to constant changes that delay or defer key deliverables
Ensure political sponsorship from all parties is fully engaged in the project from inception
Legislation is introduced at the last minute to accommodate political realities
Stakeholders may be reluctant to uptake the project due to impending legislation
Project is delayed until changes are incorporated
Pre-validate changes against the taxonomy before final language is published. Include a formal process for managing changes in taxonomy and communications to stakeholders.
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13th XBRL International Conference

12. 13th XBRL International Conference
Contributors
Jeff Smith, UK H.M. Revenue & Customs
Adrian Lejins, Australian tax Office
Max Cummock, New Zealand Inland Revenue
Christine Beasley, Australian tax Office
Terry Lutes, The M Group
Eric Cohen, PricewaterhouseCoopers, LLP
Marc vanHilvoorde, KPMG
Alex Fiteni CMA, Fiteni International LLC
24/02/2019
13th XBRL International Conference

13. 13th XBRL International Conference
Contacts
Alex Fiteni CMA
President
Fiteni International LLC
Mobile:
eFax:
Office:
24/02/2019
13th XBRL International Conference

14. 13th XBRL International Conference
Alex Fiteni CMA
Alex Fiteni is a professional accountant, accounting information systems designer, lecturer and author. Until 1985, Alex was an accountant in various industry, education and government sectors, completing his first career as CFO for a major non-governmental organization. He has been active in a number of compliance software development and ERP implementation projects since 1985, completing a career in business applications software product development as a Director of Development for Oracle Corporation in He has recently started a private practice in business and financial information management consulting.
Alex has domain expertise in accounting and statutory compliance in ERP systems from gap analysis to implementation, integration, upgrade and migration. In recent projects in private practice, he has performed business and marketing plan reviews; sales and use tax compliance analysis; ERP COTS applications fit and gap analysis and configuration; business intelligence systems design; and advised on financial and business operational change management.
Fiteni International LLC provides full service management consulting, specializing in business process re-engineering, change management, project management, corporate knowledge and business intelligence management, and software applications design and implementation.
24/02/2019
13th XBRL International Conference