The Tax Programme of the OECD Korea Policy Centre (KPC), OECD, and regional tax organizations (CATA and PITAA) co-organized the Online OECD Tax Seminar on December 8-10, 2020.

The seminar was designed to introduce the concept of value-added tax (VAT) imposed on digital businesses in more than 160 countries in line with the expansion of the digital economy and to provide training on the core content of the OECD VAT/GST Guidelines. The program also shared experiences on VAT implementation in OECD member countries and provided case studies on key issues and best practices that participants could utilize in their own countries.

Some of the main contents of the seminar regarding VAT design and operation included:

• Applying VAT to cross-border trade, incl. best practices in simplified registration systems, the role of platforms in the VAT collection and the customs issues

• VAT challenges and opportunities from the sharing economy

• Developing regional assistance in the adjustment of local VAT legislation to face the challenges of the digital economy

• VAT measures in the context of the Covid-19 crisis

• Addressing VAT fraud and improving international administrative co-operation

Various experts including Ms. Stephane Buydens (OECD), Mr. Kshama Purohit (UK) participated in the seminar, and more than 50 tax officials from the Asia-Pacific area attended the seminar via Zoom.