Governments should fight aggressive tax planning by building closer relationships with advisers and corporates, an OECD study has found.

The study, looking into the role advisers play in large business tax avoidance, was released in Cape Town today and said that building trust between advisers, corporates and revenue bodies was the best way to counter aggressive planning.

The findings have been well-received by tax advisers, who feared that they could be negatively portrayed when the report was commissioned in September 2006 as part of the Seoul Declaration.

'This is far more positive about the role of tax intermediaries than the initial project title suggested it would be. It recognises the role agents can play in delivering effective tax compliance and that has to be a good thing,' said ICAEW Tax Faculty chairman Paul Aplin.

Loughlin Hickey, global head of Tax at KPMG, described the document as a 'breakthrough towards a more collaborative approach to making tax legislation and administration an effective part of economic policy throughout the world'.

The OECD study recommends an approach similar to the Varney Review undertaken by HM Revenue & Customs, which is based on a risked-based approach to compliance and a more open relationship with taxpayers.

Further reading:

Read the full study here