On May 21 and 22, Zagreb hosted the international colloquium Managing Tax System Complexity in the Digital Age: Domestic and International Perspectives. The two-day event was jointly organised by the University of New South Wales Sydney, the Queensland University of Technology, the Institute of Public Finance, and the Faculty of Tourism and Hospitality Management at the University of Rijeka. The colloquium brought together domestic and international researchers and experts to discuss the management of complex tax systems, which is one of the enduring challenges facing modern states, with particular emphasis on digitalisation. 

Participants discussed how digital technologies can simplify and accelerate tax processes, while simultaneously giving rise to numerous challenges. Discussions covered the simplification and fairness of tax systems, the reduction of administrative burdens through technology, the protection of taxpayers’ rights under conditions of digital surveillance, and the need for international coordination and standardisation.

The colloquium was opened by Sabina Hodžić from the Faculty of Tourism and Hospitality Management at the University of Rijeka, who emphasised that such gatherings are valuable not only for knowledge sharing, but also because in times of rapid technological change, research and collaboration with society, the economy and institutions are more important than ever.

The Director of the Institute Vjekoslav Bratić in his opening remarks noted that the complexity of tax systems affects public revenues, compliance costs, fairness, and trust in institutions. “Digitalisation can simplify and accelerate tax procedures, but it also brings new legal, technical and organisational challenges. It is important to discuss not only the digitalisation of tax processes, but also the thoughtful and effective management of tax complexity,” Bratić pointed out.

The colloquium concluded with a panel discussion Managing Tax Systems in the Digital Age - Key Takeaways and Future Directions, featuring experts from Germany, Denmark and Croatia, among them Ivica Urban, Senior Research Associate at the Institute. At the heart of the discussion was the question of whether digitalisation can genuinely simplify tax systems or whether, in certain areas and countries, it creates new forms of complexity. The panellists agreed that simplification efforts often produce the opposite effect, and that the instruments for reducing complexity are highly context-specific.

Speaking about Croatia’s experience with income tax, Urban highlighted that over the past decade, processes of both simplification, for example the automation of the annual tax assessment, and increasing system complexity, due to a growing number of tax allowances, had been unfolding in parallel. He stressed that a substantive simplification of the system requires a comprehensive, carefully analysed and thought-through reform. He also added that digital systems could serve as assistants to citizens in selecting the most favourable option for their tax decisions, for example when using the personal allowance for dependent children. The participants in the panel reflected on the potential of artificial intelligence in the work of tax administrations and the importance of international exchange of experience and practices in tax system management. 

The overarching conclusion of the conference was that the digital transformation of tax systems is not a technical issue but a political, legal, and societal challenge requiring collaboration among all stakeholders. 

More information, including the programme and book of abstracts, is available on the colloquium website.