An Overview On Practical Approaches Towards Ensuring Integrity In Tax Administration

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An Overview On Practical Approaches Towards
Ensuring Integrity In Tax Administration Present
ed By TAN SRI DATO ZAINOL ABIDIN ABD.
RASHID CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER INLAND REVENUE
BOARD MALAYSIA
An Overview On Practical Approaches Towards
Ensuring Integrity In Tax Administration
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• ETHICS
• Standards of right and wrong, good and bad
• Two aspects to ethics
• - Able to determine what is right or wrong, good
  or bad
• - Committing to doing what is right and good
• contd.
• 
  

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• Committing to doing what is right and good means
  
• Doing ethical actions
• Doing what is right and good
• Avoiding what is wrong or bad
• Walk the talk

An Overview On Practical Approaches Towards
Ensuring Integrity In Tax Administration
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• ETHICS versus VALUES
• ETHICS A subset of values concerned with
  decisions about right and wrong
• VALUES - Include other beliefs and attitudes
  that guide behaviour
• e.g. prosperity, happiness, respect,
  satisfaction etc.

An Overview On Practical Approaches Towards
Ensuring Integrity In Tax Administration
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• BASIC ETHICAL PRINCIPLES GUIDE DEVELOPMENT OF
  STANDARDS
• ORGANIZATIONAL ETHICS
• PROFESSIONAL CODES OF ETHICS
• BUSINESS ETHICS
• contd.

An Overview On Practical Approaches Towards
Ensuring Integrity In Tax Administration
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• ORGANIZATIONAL ETHICS
• Serve as guidelines in the conduct of duties for
  employees in organizations
• Adherence to principles of honesty, competency,
  trustworthiness, truthfulness, transparency,
  accountability, justice etc.
• contd.

An Overview On Practical Approaches Towards
Ensuring Integrity In Tax Administration
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PROFESSIONAL CODES OF ETHICS Govern conduct of
members of a given profession BUSINESS
ETHICS Deal with questions whether specific
business practices acceptable
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An Overview On Practical Approaches Towards
Ensuring Integrity In Tax Administration
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• INTEGRITY
• Quality of excellence manifested in a holistic
  and integrated manner in individuals and
  organizations
• Based on ethics and noble values
• contd.

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An Overview On Practical Approaches Towards
Ensuring Integrity In Tax Administration
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• INTEGRITY IN -
• INDIVIDUALS
• ORGANISATIONS
• PUBLIC OFFICIAL
• contd.

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• INDIVIDUAL
• Harmony between what an individual says and does
• Act in accordance with moral and ethical
  principles, laws and regulations

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• ORGANIZATIONS
• Formulate and implement
• Code of Ethics
• Clients Charter
• Systems or work procedures
• Comply with best practices

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• PUBLIC OFFICIAL
• Carry out the trust and responsibilities in line
  with public interest
• Avoid abuse of power
• No conflict of interest
• Accountable, transparent, sincere etc.

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DETERIORATION OF INTEGRITY

• INDIVIDUAL
• LEADERSHIP
• SYSTEMS PROCEDURES
• STRUCTURE AND INSTITUTION
• CULTURE

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• INDIVIDUAL
• Individual weaknesses
• - low education and poor values
• - poor work ethics
• - greed
• Life demands

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• LEADERSHIP
• Non exemplary leadership and low commitment
• Do not walk the talk promises

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• SYSTEMS PROCEDURES
• Low transparency
• Weak system and procedures
• Ineffective enforcement
• Selective enforcement
• Poor monitoring
• Limited resources
• Outdated laws and conflict in laws

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• STRUCTURE AND INSTITUTION
• STRUCTURE
• Structure not suitable and not focused
• Targets not clear and unreasonable
• Structure outdated and not addressing new
  demands and challenges
• contd.

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• INSTITUTION
• Overlapping of scope, functions and
  responsibilities
• Low coordination
• Conflict in objectives between institutions
  resulting in conflict of values and crisis

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CULTURE Culture that does not give
importance to integrity - fear of consequences
of lodging reports - indifferent attitude -
refusal to act as whistleblower - the yes-man
attitude and apple-polishing syndrome
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• ETHICAL DILEMMAS
• Examples
• Personal interest in conflict with public duty
• Negligent
• Accepting gifts and invitations
• contd.

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• Meals and drinks offered
• Not observing confidentiality
• Misuse governments assets
• Corruption

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• REASONS
• Financial distress
• Social accepted standards and values
• Given opportunities
• contd.

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• CONSEQUENCES
• Rampant corrupt practices leading to
• Economic and social decline
• Less tax revenues
• Low compliance

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• ENSURING INTEGRITY
• INTEGRITY POLICY / FRAMEWORK
• Code of Ethics
• Organization structure
• Systems and procedures
• Continuous ethical training
• Human Resource policies
• contd.

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• Internal auditing and inspection
• Sanctioning systems
• Integrity Counsellors
• Booklet on Integrity

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• 7. CONCLUSION
• Ethics and integrity in place in organizations
  and individual
• Practice ethical behaviour
• Awareness and real time detection key to good
  organizational ethics
• Programmes to fight corruption and other
  irregularities not a fad or episode
• contd.

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• INTEGRITY QUOTES
• Integrity is incorruptibility incapable of
  being false to a trust, responsibility or pledge
• Integrity is doing right when no one is looking
• The test of integrity is in the opportunity
• Integrity is credibility, you lose integrity, you
  lose credibility

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TERIMA KASIH
THANK YOU
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