| By automating the screening of tax returns, the AFAL System allows the IRD to focus its efforts on post-assessment audits, facilitate the identification of potential high-yield tax avoidance and evasion cases, and provide an effective means to measure tax compliance and ultimately promote voluntary compliance. The AFAL approach enables the devotion of more professional effort to tax audit work. This, in due course, supported by publicity programmes and taxpayer education, will bring about substantial benefits from improved voluntary tax compliance and more effective enforcement.
The AFAL System will be implemented in two phases. Phase I, which commenced in mid-2000, establishes the foundation for the AFAL business initiative, including automation of the screening of tax returns for assessment, selection of cases for post-assessment desk audit, field audit and investigation, as well as tax compliance measurement. Phase II provides more sophisticated selection methods for field audit and investigation and compliance measurement. Implementation of Phase I is expected to be completed by the end of 2002.
The case-selection function of the AFAL System is built on the analytical services provided by SAS. IRD officers select the required numbers of cases online by providing parameters to chosen criteria via the application interface. Additional selection criteria can be added to the case-selection functions via the application interface, in response to compliance trends and emerging business practices.
"SAS has worked closely with the Hong Kong Government departments since 1984. We are very pleased to support the IRD in implementing the AFAL System. During the process, our consultants worked closely with IRD staff. We are honoured to be involved in the project, which contributes both tangible and intangible value to the IRD and creates benefits for both the Hong Kong government and the community,?said Dawn Kung, Managing Director of SAS Hong Kong. SAS is ready to support the IRD in later phases by providing software and services to the department on tax audit-related mechanisms. |
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The Inland Revenue Department, a Hong Kong SAR government body, aims to be an excellent tax administration, playing an important part in promoting Hong Kong's prosperity and stability. The overall objective of the Inland Revenue Department is to raise revenue through the administration of various tax-related ordinances. To achieve this objective, IRD aims to collect revenue efficiently and cost-effectively, and promote compliance through the rigorous enforcement of law and the provision of education and publicity programmes. |
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SAS is the market leader in providing a new generation of business intelligence software and services that create true enterprise intelligence. SAS solutions are used at more than 38,000 sites -- including 99 of the top 100 businesses on the Fortune 500 -- to develop more profitable relationships with customers and suppliers; to enable better, more accurate and informed decisions; and to drive organizations forward. SAS is the only vendor that completely integrates leading data warehousing, analytics and traditional BI applications to create intelligence from massive amounts of data. For 25 years, SAS has been giving customers around the world The Power to Know. |
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