A Case of the Governance of Digital Technology in Tax Administration

Abstract

Despite the growing importance of digital technology in recent years, a holistic view of its governance in tax administration is yet to be clearly articulated. This shortcoming is attributed to the lack of empirical research in this sensitive, yet important, public administration context. Using IT Governance conceptual framework, this case study research examines executive leadership perspectives (Information & Technology, Operations, and Customer Service) on the governance of digital technologies in a European tax administration. Specifically, the study explores the governance capabilities associated with a digital transformation initiative implemented in the tax administration. Findings revealed specific Structural, Decision-making, and Relational capabilities considered important from three disparate, yet complementary leadership views of digital technology governance in tax administration. CCS CONCEPTS• Management of computing and information systems; • Government technology policy; • Human and societal aspects of security and privacy;

Building Block in Digital Tax Administration: Literature Review

“…Data management and data standards Formal models and arrangements that implement privacy frameworks, (Maphumula & Njenga, 2019), (Olivares Olivares, 2018), (Jose Ordonez & Hallo, 2019), (Zeleti et al, 2021).…”

“…Identifying opportunities for providing tax services in combination with digital platforms and other third parties, (Zeleti et al, 2021), (Krieger et al, 2021),(KARABULUT, 2022), (Zhou et al, 2022).…”

“…Implementation of digital databases, (Engström et al, 2022), (Zeleti et al, 2021), (Krieger et al, 2021),(KARABULUT, 2022), (Zhou et al, 2022).…”

“…Test the development of tax rules specifications, (Maphumula & Njenga, 2019),(Olivares Olivares, 2018),(Jose Ordonez & Hallo, 2019), (Zeleti et al, 2021),(KARABULUT, 2022), (Bassey et al, 2022).…”

“…Besides that, with the existence of technology, administrative taxes in the form of data mining can also support taxation activities (Alkaabneh et al, 2021). There are three important things in implementing digital transformation in taxation including: certain structural, decision-making and relational capabilities (Zeleti et al, 2021).…”