The Role of Tax Digitalization in Increasing Tax Revenues/ An Applied Study at the General Commission for Taxes

Abstract

This study aims to examine the impact of the transition from the traditional manual system of tax assessment and collection at the General Commission for Taxes to an electronic tax digitalization system, in view of its role in facilitating assessment and collection procedures and increasing tax revenues. At present, the application of digitalization is limited to certain aspects and does not encompass all stages of the tax process.

The study population consists of the General Commission for Taxes. A sample was selected from the main departments directly involved in tax assessment and collection procedures, namely the Large Income Taxpayers Department, the Companies Department, and the Withholding Tax Department, as they represent an appropriate environment for studying the reality of tax digitalization implementation and analyzing its impact on increasing tax revenues.

A comparative applied study was conducted between the traditional manual assessment and collection method and the digital approach through the design of a tax digitalization program. The study relied on selected practical cases from the sampled departments and analyzed them to demonstrate the differences in tax revenues.

The study adopted the descriptive approach in the theoretical aspect to analyze the concepts of tax digitalization and tax revenues, while the analytical approach was employed in the practical aspect through examining the actual situation and analyzing the results of the application.

The researchers reached several conclusions, the most significant of which is that the current legal and legislative tax framework does not fully align with the requirements of tax digitalization, which limits its effectiveness and negatively affects tax revenue efficiency. Accordingly, the researchers recommend developing and updating the existing tax legislation to be consistent with the requirements of tax digitalization, or adopting a new legal tax framework that explicitly and clearly supports electronic revenue assessment and collection.