Ministry of Revenues

Integrated Tax
Administration System
(ITAS)
Business and Functional
Requirement for Filing and Return
Processing Core Process

July 2021

i|Page
Document Control

VERSION HISTORY
Version Date Revised By Reason for change
#
1.0 November-2020 Data-IT Team Drafted the BFR

1.1 December-2020 BPT Team Provided comments

1.2 December-2020 TTO Team Provided comments

1.3 January-2021 Data/IT Team Revised the document as per comments

1.4 January-2021 IMF Team Provided comments

1.5 January-2021 IMF Team Provided comments

2.0 February-2021 Data/IT Team Revised the document as per comments

3.0 April-2021 TTO Team Incorporated additional processes and

reviewed existing ones as per the regional
harmonization.

4.0 June-2021 Data/IT Team Incorporated internal alignment comments

to process maps and requirements.

5.0 July-2021 TTO Team Revised as per IMF quality check feedback

DOCUMENT APPROVALS
Approver Name Project Role Signature Date
Dereje Mekonnen Director, Filing Directorate

ii | P a g e
Contents
Document Control..........................................................................................................................................................ii
PART I. Introduction.......................................................................................................................................................1
1.1. Background and Context...............................................................................................................................1
1.2. Purpose of the Document.............................................................................................................................1
2.1. Business Requirement.........................................................................................................................................2
2.2. Functional Requirement......................................................................................................................................3
2.2.1. Return Filing..........................................................................................................................................3
2.2.1.1. Filing Reminders..........................................................................................................................4
2.2.1.2. Manual Return Filing Process Map..............................................................................................5
2.2.1.3. Electronic Return Filing..............................................................................................................10
2.2.1.4. Filing Extension Request by Taxpayer.......................................................................................15
2.2.1.5. Filing Extension Due To Force Majeure.....................................................................................17
2.2.2. Amendment of Previously Submitted Returns...................................................................................18
2.2.2.1. Electronic Amendment of Previously Submitted Return..........................................................18
2.2.2.2. Manual Amendment of Previously Submitted Return or Presumptive Tax Assessment..........21
2.2.3. Non-Filer – Identification, Notification and Follow-Up......................................................................23
2.2.3.1. Estimated Assessment...............................................................................................................25
2.2.3.1.1. Estimate Determination by Committee/ Tax Officer............................................................27
2.2.4. Presumptive Tax Determination........................................................................................................28
2.2.5. Process of Municipality Fees and Non-Tax Revenues........................................................................30
2.2.5.1. Process of Municipality Fees and Non-Tax Revenues With Interface.......................................30
2.2.5.2. Process of Municipality Fees and Non-Tax Revenues Without Interface.................................31
2.2.6. Return Processing...............................................................................................................................32
2.2.7. Refund Processing..............................................................................................................................34
2.2.7.1. Refund for Excise Tax.................................................................................................................38
2.2.7.2. Refund Processing for Privileged Persons.................................................................................39
2.2.8. Filing related administrative Module requirements..........................................................................40
2.2.9. Assessment notices............................................................................................................................42
2.2.10. Filing and Refund Processing Related Dashboard, Summary and Detail Reports.........................42

iii | P a g e
PART I. Introduction

1.1. Background and Context

The Ministry of Revenues has developed its ten-year strategic plan (from 2013 - 2022 Ethiopian
Calendar) with a vision to build a modern tax administration which enables the country to cover
its expenditures from tax and customs income. Realizing that the current state of operational
capability is not adequate to meet and realize its vision and achieve its strategic goals, the
ministry launched a five-year tax transformation programme, identifying key priority areas of
reform. Business Process Transformation (BPT) is one of the six priority areas that the tax
transformation programme will be implementing during this period. This BPT is intended to
bring about operational excellence and organizational efficiency to deliver the mission given to
the ministry i.e., increasing revenue collections, customer satisfaction, voluntary compliance,
digitalization and other performance perspectives. Without such transformation initiatives, MoR
cannot keep abreast of global developments and support the nation’s economy to the expected
level.

In depth analysis of the Ministry’s current processes revealed the following major gaps:

▪ High level of manual processing

▪ High compliance costs for taxpayers
▪ Lack of integration and data sharing
▪ Increased cost of collection and enforcement to the Ministry
▪ Lack of standardized list of required process input documents
▪ Technology and infrastructure limitations
▪ Limited role of risk management
▪ Static risk model
▪ Lack of Automated Document Management and Case Management Systems
▪ Limited Focus and Scope for Taxpayer Education
▪ Lack of Coordination and Communication
▪ Lack of adequate human capacity

In order to realize the ambitious vision and alleviate the challenges in its current processes, the
Ministry decided to undergo massive business process transformation across its core and
enforcement processes. Furthermore, to support the overall business processes with modern
and reliable technology, the Ministry has crafted a five-year Information Technology Strategic

1|Page
plan along with a detailed implementation plan. Among other critical technological projects, the
plan has identified the implementation of modern tax administration system (ITAS) as one of the
key projects that should be implemented within the coming years

Currently, future state (To-Be) business processes are mapped for the domestic tax 12 core
processes using Business Process Modeling and Notation (BPMN V2.0) methodology and
Bizagi modeling tool. Hence, this document is prepared to elicit business and functional
requirements of the Ministry based on approved future state (To-be) business process maps
and formally document the requirements for further use.

1.2. Purpose of the Document

This document defines the high-level business requirements and detailed functional
requirements of Integrated Tax Administration System (ITAS) project. The document will be
used as basis for the following activities:

● Creating request(s) for proposal (RfP) – in particular for a planned new Integrated
Tax Administration System (ITAS) bit also for other components of MOR’s It
modernization such as an e-invoicing solution, and Data Warehouse / BI solution
● Creating solution designs
● Developing Standard Operating Procedures for MoR officers
● Developing test plans, test scripts, and test cases
● Assessing project success in terms of meeting client requirements
2.1. Business Requirement

MoR needs to have all businesses, individuals and other entities that are required to process
taxpayer return. The system is expected to satisfy the following high-level business
requirements of the ministry with regards to the return filing and processing core process:

A. Return Filing
1) The system shall be available in different channels (e-service portal, web-based
platform, mobile app, taxpayer kiosk)  E-Filing functionality to taxpayers.
2) Provide access to all tax types and taxpayers
3) Allow regional access
4) Enable access to detail purchases & sales; automate system reconciliation
5) Allow amendment of past returns/ filings on e-services platform

2|Page
 6) Enable one window manual filing service with prepopulated document
numbers, scanning and automatic data encoding of filing information, error
correction and capturing taxpayer history when electronic filing services are
not under operation/ challenged
B. Amendment of previously submitted returns
1) Promote voluntary compliance and reduce cost of collection, enabling an
amendment of previously submitted returns service
2) Enable e-service functionality
C. Non filer identification, notification and follow up
1) Provide access to automatic notification of non-filer taxpayers (SMS, E mail)
(manager, tax agents etc);
2) Leverage support of IVRS to follow up on non-filers
3) Establish a taxpayers list for those who fail to file more than 3 years continuously
D. Refund Processing

1) Streamline the refund process request submission, verification and payment

process

At the time of writing the list of tax-types are indicated in the Technical Specifications.
Overtime, the tax-types may evolve and new business systems such as ITAS shall be able to
streamline changes.

3|Page
2.2. Functional Requirement
This section presents the To-Be business process map for all sub processes under the filing core
process and details of functional requirements aligned with the future state (To-Be) sub process
maps:

2.2.1. Return Filing

4|Page
2.2.1.1. Filing Reminders

FR-02.1.1-01 The system shall check filing periods and due dates, M
filing extension request by taxpayer or due to
Government decisions including due to force majeure,
status of tax type registrations, exemptions for filing,
accounting periods of taxpayers and other factors, and
send filing reminders once the filing period starts.

The reminders can be in print/email, SMS and as

view/printable version on e-service portal.

The system shall allow configuration of reminders,

letters and notice templates, frequency of reminders and
date for sending the reminder.

FR-02.1.1-02 The system shall send new reminders until the return is M
submitted or an estimated assessment determined. The
content of each reminder will differ to show severity of
issue.

5|Page
2.2.1.2. Manual Return Filing Process Map

ID Requirement Description Priority Remark

Mandatory (M) /
Preferred (P)
FR-02.1.2-01 The system shall send reminders and notifications on M Reminders and letters
filing due dates through email and SMS. templates are configurable

The system shall allow configuration of reminders,

letters and notice templates, frequency of reminders and
date for sending the reminder.

FR-02.1.2-03 The system shall allow printing prepopulated returns M The taxpayer may need to
with transactional data fetched from internal (E- change or correct pre-
Invoicing, Data Warehouse) and/or external systems of populated data. Forms
taxpayers through the API. redesign shall facilitate and
make clear processing of such
changes.

FR-02.1.2-04 The system shall allow printing of pre-populated return M Note for eventual end-user
forms (basic taxpayer data and/or transactional data). technical infrastructure
Each pre-populated form must have a barcode readable procurement: need to acquire
unique number. printers with bar-code printing
and compatible readers.

FR-02.1.2-05 The system shall allow configuration of Forms, form M

versions, form lines, tax periods, annexes and their
fields/attributes, tax period types, filing frequency, and
nature of filing (regular, intermittent based on
transactions and others). In addition, the system shall
allow configuration of multiple forms and form versions
per tax type with date validity ranges and applying to
different taxpayer groups.

6|Page
 ID Requirement Description Priority Remark
Mandatory (M) /
Preferred (P)
FR-02.1.2-06 The system shall allow printing of multiple pre-populated M
forms (basic taxpayer data and/or transactional data) for
selected taxpayers under a tax agent.

FR-02.1.2-07 The system shall allow discarding and reprinting of M

unprocessed prepopulated returns (basic taxpayer data
and or transactional data) in case of errors.
The system shall also discard unprocessed return forms
based on a configurable timeframe.

FR-02.1.2-08 The system shall automatically populate zeros on return M

and summary forms when no transactions are reported
by the taxpayer.

FR-02.1.2-09 The system shall allow tax officers to update email M

and/or telephone address/contact information based on
data from return forms.
The system shall validate the new email and/or address
by automatically sending validation request. Only if a
validation is positively returned, the new address will be
captured.

The system shall keep the history of all address

changes.

FR-02.1.2-10 The system shall allow saving incomplete returns for the M
tax officer to complete them when ready. Such returns
shall be flagged incomplete and won’t be considered as
filed until all fields are captured and data is submitted.

FR-02.1.2-11 The system shall allow validating and correcting of data M

after capturing return details while also retaining data
submitted by the taxpayer.

FR-02.1.2-12 The system shall allow the tax officer to upload M

scanned/soft copy return forms in CSV, XML, TXT,
XLSX, HTML formats. Format available for taxpayers
will be specified by MOR and will cover similar fields for
online/electronic and paper return forms.

FR-02.1.2-13 The system shall also allow manual capturing of return M .

data by tax officers.
This is to allow all taxpayers in all regional authorities to
use the system and in the absence of a scanning
function.

FR-02.1.2-14 The system shall allow tax officers to upload and read M
scanned/soft copy annexes in CSV, XML, TXT, XLSX,
HTML formats. The system shall provide downloadable
templates for the annexes.

The content of the annexes is configurable.

FR-02.1.2-15 The system should allow manual capturing of annexes M

by tax officers.
This is to allow all taxpayers in all regional authorities to
use the system and in the absence of a scanning
function.

7|Page
 ID Requirement Description Priority Remark
Mandatory (M) /
Preferred (P)
FR-02.1.2-16 The system shall allow tax officers to bring-forward past
period return and annex details in case there are no or
minor changes with the current tax period.
For instance, given that employee details like number,
salary and tax deductions don’t frequently change, the
system shall have the ability to bring past return and
annex details to current period and allow tax officer to
make any applicable changes. The system shall allow
tax officer to select the most appropriate tax period to
bring data from or use configurable business rules as
allowed by law

FR-02.1.2-17 The system shall allow tax officers to upload scan and M
upload of other attachments and provide barcode
readable unique identifier numbers to all scanned
documents.

FR-02.1.2-18 The system shall validate return forms based on M

business rules defined on the system administration
module.
Validation business rules are configurable for each form.

FR-02.1.2-19 The system shall automatically populate calculated M

fields for return forms and annexes.

The system shall allow configuration of calculation rules

for each form and annex in addition to comparison and
validation of summary and details

FR-02.1.2-20 The system shall validate return forms against detail M

provided by annexes.

When the data in the return is a summary of the details

in the annexes, the system shall do the calculation and
validate against the appropriate line in the return form.

FR-02.1.2-21 The system shall indicate discrepancies between return M

forms and annexes, flag the return as incomplete until
all discrepancies are cleared by taxpayer. If the return is
incomplete by the end of the statutory filing period, the
return is subject to all applicable penalty and interest.

Taxpayer may choose to keep the tax return form as it is

or update the tax return and supporting documents
accordingly.

FR-02.1.2-22 The system shall allow filing of returns before the end of M
the tax period for specific cases by authorized officers
with supervisor/manager role. All actions related to this
activity should have full audit trail.

Ex. If a taxpayer is closing the business, he/she should

not wait until the end of the fiscal year to file the annual
taxes.
The specific cases should be configurable. Taxpayer in
such a position will apply to file a return before the end
of the Tax Period and go through relevant approvals.

8|Page
 ID Requirement Description Priority Remark
Mandatory (M) /
Preferred (P)
FR-02.1.2-23 The system shall allow submission of completed returns, M ·
issue unique submission ID, populate submission
timestamp and provide confirmation of filing after
successful validations via email, SMS, print and/or other
forms. The submission confirmation should indicate
basic taxpayer information and return data.

FR-02.1.2-24 The system shall check arithmetical accuracy and M

makes sure all necessary fields are completed.

FR-02.1.2-25 The system shall display taxpayer filled and submitted M

values along with system validated and calculated
values. Both the taxpayer submitted values and the
system verified values will be stored in the database
once submitted.

FR-02.1.2-26 The system shall update the taxpayer ledger based on M

the return information provided by the taxpayer and
validated by the system.

FR-02.1.2-27 The system shall print/email a notification of M

acknowledgment when a return is successfully
submitted. The content of the notification will be agreed
at requirement validation stage but should include the
taxpayer basic details and the details of the validated
return.

FR-02.1.2-28 The system shall allow capturing, processing, and M

management of fees such as stamp duty and other
municipal and non-tax revenues as collected by federal,
regional tax authorities and city administrations.

Fees don’t have returns. They are one-off payments by

taxpayers where the bill is raised by another
government agency. For instance, a tax authority might
process payments for vehicle registration once the bill is
raised by the Ministry of Transport. These fees don’t
have the nature of tax types (such as they don’t follow
tax periods, don’t have assessment calculations).

FR-02.1.2-29 The system shall allow carry forward/backward of M

credits over tax periods. .

The system shall allow configuration of credit carry

forward/backward .
FR-02.1.2-30 The system shall be able to manage loss carry M
forward/backward.
The system shall allow configuration of loss rules for
each tax type and each tax form.
FR-02.1.2-31 The system should allow redesigning of filing M
workflow/processes.

FR-02.1.2-32 The system shall restrict/prohibit updating values once M

a return is submitted and an assessment notice is
printed unless its for amendment purposes. And in
which case the original values and the amendment
values are both retained together with reasons for the

9|Page
 ID Requirement Description Priority Remark
Mandatory (M) /
Preferred (P)
amendment. Each amendment must be kept separately
and should have unique identifier.
FR-02.1.2-33 The system shall record manual returns (even those M
with minor errors), and shall classify the return as
incomplete until the discrepancies are cleared. .
FR-02.1.2-34 M This can be managed by an
The system shall enable Return Officer to record and
tnterface with electronic
maintain location of paper returns and files using unique
document management
document identifiers.
system
FR-02.1.2-35 The system shall automatically identify return errors M
based on form-based business rules and automatically
log the error
FR-02.1.2-36 The system shall save the manual tax return form as an M
electronic return forms that can be retrieved, completed
and submitted later.
The submission date will be recorded, and this may be
different from the date capture and processing date.
The submission date determines the date used for any
late filing processes.
FR-02.1.2-37 The system shall be able to locate paper tax return in its M
batches through barcode scanning
FR-02.1.2-38 The system shall allow scanning and uploading of M
manually filed returns and attachments of return along
with associated return data.
FR-02.1.2-39 The system shall allow for only one original return be M
filed for a taxpayer, tax type and tax period. In cases
where taxpayers are allowed for multiple tax type
registrations per tax type, the system shall treat each
tax type registration separate for filing, payment and
account management purposes unless specifically
defined in the laws to consolidate them.
FR-02.1.2-40 The system shall provide the ability to archive and view M
archived returns based on defined configuration
FR-02.1.2-41 The system shall post tax return and its supporting M
documentation in the Document Management System
together with tags including TIN, tax-type, period,
lodgment date and other tags to be defined during
detailed requirements discovery.
FR-02.1.2-42 The system shall automatically conduct Return M
Processing for high risk taxpayers and those randomly
selected returns.

10 | P a g e
2.2.1.3. Electronic Return Filing

ID Requirement Description Priority Remark

(Mandatory (M)
/Preferred (P)
FR-02.1.3-01 The system shall list all returns to be filed grouped by M
period, tax type, and tax center.
FR-02.1.3-02 The system shall provide a pre-populated (taxpayer M
basic data and/or transactional data) return form for
the taxpayer to fill/edit and/or approve. For example,
while filling the electronic form for corporate income
tax, the system shall auto-populate tax credit
information for fields such as Withholding Tax based
on any related payments made during the tax period.

The mapping rules for form lines and advance credits

is configurable such as which lines of the annual tax
form are withholding credits populated or which lines
of previous tax period return is considered as VAT
Credit Carried Forward for next tax period and others.
FR-02.1.3-03 The system shall allow uploading and parsing M
annexes in CSV, XML, TXT, XLSX, HTML formats.
The system shall read such uploaded documents,
auto populate the online forms for the schedules and
to highlight the specific attachments which couldn’t be
uploaded due to errors. The system shall provide
downloadable templates for such annexes for
taxpayers to download, fill and upload.
The content of the annexes is configurable.
FR-02.1.3-04 The system shall allow capturing and/or editing of M
annexes.

11 | P a g e
 ID Requirement Description Priority Remark
(Mandatory (M)
/Preferred (P)
FR-02.1.3-05 The system shall allow taxpayers to bring-forward past
period return and annex details in case there are no or
minor changes with the current tax period.
For instance, given that employee details like number,
salary and tax deductions don’t frequently change, the
system shall have the ability to bring past return and
annex details to current period and allow taxpayer to
make any applicable changes. The system shall allow
taxpayer to select the most appropriate tax period to
bring data from.
The system shall advise the taxpayer to use this
facility carefully to ensure accuracy of the new return.
FR-02.1.3-06 The system shall allow carry-forward previous period M
annex details where applicable.
Examples are: <insert>
FR-02.1.3-07 The system shall record all returns and annexes into M
the database.
FR-02.1.3-08 The system shall allow scanning and uploading of M
other attachments by the taxpayer and provide and
record barcode readable unique identifiers numbers in
the event that these softcopy documents are
subsequently printed.
FR-02.1.3-09 The system shall validate return forms based on M
business rules defined on the administration module.

Validation business rules are configurable for each

form.
FR-02.1.3-10 The system shall automatically populate calculated M
fields for return forms and annexes.

The system shall allow configuration of calculation

rules for each form and annex of each tax type.

FR-02.1.3-11 The system shall validate return forms against detail M

provided by annexes.

FR-02.1.3-12 The system shall indicate discrepancies between M

return forms and annexes, flag the return as
incomplete and won’t allow it to be submitted and
won’t issue confirmation until discrepancies are
resolved and it is complete.

FR-02.1.3-13 The system shall have offline capability where a M

taxpayer can populate return forms in an offline
environment and data is pushed to the ITAS whenever
a connection is established. Offline capability can be
XML, Excel or other formats acceptable by MOR and
defined during the design phase

FR-02.1.3-14 The system shall allow filing of returns before the end M
of the tax period for specific cases by officers with
supervisor/manager role.

Ex. If a taxpayer is closing the business, he/she

should not wait until the end of the fiscal year to file the

12 | P a g e
 ID Requirement Description Priority Remark
(Mandatory (M)
/Preferred (P)
annual taxes.
The specific cases should be configurable

FR-02.1.3-15 The system shall allow saving incomplete returns for

the taxpayer to complete them when ready. Such
returns shall be flagged incomplete and won’t be
considered as filed until all fields are captured and
data validated, and it is submitted by the taxpayer.

FR-02.1.3-16 The system shall allow submission of returns, issue M

unique submission ID, populate submission timestamp
and provide confirmation of filing after successful
validations via email, SMS, print and/or other forms.
The submission confirmation should indicate basic
taxpayer information and return data.

FR-02.1.3-18 The system shall check arithmetical accuracy and M ·

makes sure all necessary fields are completed.
A return cannot be submitted by the taxpayer until it is
arithmetically accurate.

FR-02.1.3-19 The system shall display taxpayer filled and submitted M

values along with system validated and calculated
values. Both the taxpayer submitted values and the
system verified values will be stored in the database
once submitted.

FR-02.1.3-21 The system shall allow capturing, processing, and M

management of fees such as stamp duty and other
municipal and non-tax revenues as collected by
federal, regional tax authorities and city
administrations.

FR-02.1.3-22 The system shall update the taxpayer ledger based on M

the return information provided by the taxpayer and
validated by the system.

FR-02.1.3-23 The system shall print/email a notification of M

acknowledgment when a return is successfully
submitted. The content of the notification will be
agreed at requirement validation stage but should
include the taxpayer basic details and the details of the
validated return.

FR-02.1.3-24 The system shall allow carry forward/back of credits M

over tax periods

The carry forward/back rules shall be configurable

FR-02.1.3-25 The system shall be able to manage loss carry M

forward/back

Loss rules shall be configurable

FR-02.1.3-26 The system shall restrict/prohibit updating values once M
a return is submitted and a notification is printed
unless it’s for amendment purposes in which case a
designated ‘amendment return’ is submitted.

13 | P a g e
 ID Requirement Description Priority Remark
(Mandatory (M)
/Preferred (P)
FR-02.1.3-27 The system shall provide online help/detailed guides M
for filling and submitting return forms along with any
required supporting documents/schedules. These
shall indicate to the taxpayer what information is
expected to be provided for each field in the returns
forms and supporting documents/schedules.
FR-02.1.3-28 The system shall allow viewing of taxpayer ledger by M
the taxpayer and by tax officers with authorized
access with all transactions filtered by tax periods, tax
types, tax centers and others.

This is related to Tax Account/Ledger Management.

FR-02.1.3-29 The system shall provide alerts to registered M
taxpayers on any changes to the credits/ exemptions/
rebates/ debits provided by the tax authority for filing
returns online.
FR-02.1.3-30 The system shall guide the taxpayer in completing M
online forms by displaying mandatory field’s first, and
dependent fields only when required.
FR-02.1.3-31 The system shall allow taxpayers to save electronic M
return forms at any time during the preparation of the
returns and to retrieve, complete and submit the forms
later.
FR-02.1.3-32 The system shall allow taxpayers to view their filing M
and assessment history online.
FR-02.1.3-33 During the filing of schedules related to input or output M
VAT, the system shall provide a listing of the
applicable categories of VAT supplies along with the
harmonized system (HS) code. This applies to Excise
and other tax types as well.
FR-02.1.3-34 For the category of VAT supply selected, the system M
shall validate the tax rate and exemptions claimed by
the taxpayer against the applicable tax rates and
exemptions stored in the system. The system shall not
allow recording invoices that fail this validation. This
also applies for VAT.
FR-02.1.3-35 The system shall define the threshold levels for the tax M
credits which taxpayers can claim for each tax type
and shall ensure that the tax credit claimed does not
exceed the defined threshold limits (could also be
unlimited).
FR-02.1.3-36 The system shall validate return fields based on M
validation rules specific to tax types.
The systems shall allow configuration of validation
rules for each form, form version and for line of each
tax type.
FR-02.1.3-37 The system shall allow the filing of returns either by M
the taxpayer or by the nominated tax consultant/agent.
FR-02.1.3-38 The system shall provide a customized system M
interface for tax agents to list, select and file returns of
multiple taxpayers with a single e-service account.
FR-02.1.3-39 The system shall provide the ability to accept returns M
from tax agent systems through APIs.
FR-02.1.3-40 The system shall ensure that all the required M
information in the online return form is entered by the
taxpayer/agent and that any necessary supporting

14 | P a g e
 ID Requirement Description Priority Remark
(Mandatory (M)
/Preferred (P)
documents are attached.
FR-02.1.3-41 The system shall highlight any missing information in M
the form in a manner that allows the user to easily
identify and navigate to the missing information.
FR-02.1.3-42 Once the data has been validated and submitted, the M
system shall store the online returns and recorded as
accepted for compliance purposes.

The return once submitted and accepted by the

system shall be available to the taxpayer for printing
and/or viewing in the e-service portal.

The return when accepted by the system should be

available for the taxpayer to print or save with a
confirmation number, while it is kept as such by the
system updating all the taxpayer’s records
accordingly.
FR-02.1.3-43 The return’s printable copy and confirmation shall be M
available online for the taxpayer to login and access at
any time. This shall allow the taxpayer to print the
confirmation after the return has been submitted.
FR-02.1.3-44 The system shall offer a report that provides an M
integrated view of the taxpayer to utilize taxpayer
registration information, previous returns filed and
existing liabilities across tax types.
FR-02.1.3-45 The system shall keep track of history of changes from M
submitted original return to amended return

FR-02.1.3-46 The system shall determine whether a return for a M

particular tax type should be expected from a
taxpayer. This includes a “Nil Return”.
FR-02.1.3-47 The system shall allow for only one return be filed for M
a taxpayer, tax type and tax period. In cases where
taxpayers are allowed for multiple tax type
registrations for the same tax type, the system shall
treat each tax type registration separate for filing,
payment and account management purposes unless
specifically defined in the laws to consolidate them.
FR-02.1.3-48 The system shall have the capability to design M
interactive tax returns which are web-based, user
friendly and easy to complete (The system should
guide the taxpayer by providing a series of well-
defined options to select the right Format for filing of a
particular type of Tax return)
FR-02.1.3-49 The system shall be able to accommodate tax returns M
for part/portion of the tax year due to changes in
taxpayer's book year or in case of insolvency.
FR-02.1.3-50 The system shall provide the ability to archive and M
view archived returns.
FR-02.1.3-51 The system shall post tax return and its supporting M
documentation in the Document Management System
FR-02.1.3-52 The system shall automatically conduct Return M
Processing for high risk taxpayers and those randomly
selected returns.

15 | P a g e
2.2.1.4. Filing Extension Request by Taxpayer

ID Requirement Description Priority Remark

Mandatory (M)/
Preferred (P)
FR-02.1.4-01 The system shall have a configurable workflow M Workflow
management component for filing due date extension management.
by taxpayer.
FR-02.1.4-02 The system shall allow capturing of filing due date M Legal change.
extensions requests by tax officer or taxpayer in tax
branch office or e-services platform.
The request can also include waiver of penalty and
interest as applicable in the law.
FR-02.1.4-03 The system shall offer recommendations whether to M
extend due dates based on configurable business
rules.

16 | P a g e
 ID Requirement Description Priority Remark
Mandatory (M)/
Preferred (P)
FR-02.1.4-04 The system shall allow an authorized officer to bypass M
recommendations.
FR-02.1.4-05 The system shall provide a report on taxpayer M
registration data along with compliance (filing,
payment, debt, exemptions, audit, objection) history
for the deciding officer.
FR-02.1.4-06 The system shall record due date extension request M
rejection along with rejection reason.
FR-02.1.4-07 The system shall offset/ update the due dates for a M
taxpayer, tax type and tax period if the extension
request is approved.
FR-02.1.4-08 The system shall allow printing and/or emailing of due M
date extension request confirmation or rejection. This
information should also be available in the taxpayer e-
portal for printing and/or viewing purposes. Both
confirmation and rejection acknowledgements should
show request date, taxpayer basic information,
rejection reason (if rejected) or revised dates (if
approved), and other information.

The content of the confirmation or rejection should be

validated after contract signing.
FR-02.1.4-09 The system shall consider approved due date M
extensions when calculating returns on self-assessed
returns and amended returns.
The system shall consider whether penalty and
interest are waived as part of the extension request
and apply those when calculating returns under
Return Processing.

17 | P a g e
2.2.1.5. Filing Extension Due To Government Decision including Force Majeure

ID Requirement Description Priority Remark

(Mandatory (M)/
Preferred (P)
FR-02.1.5-01 The system shall have a configurable workflow M
management component for filing due date extension
by force-majeure that applies to all taxpayers or a
portion of taxpayers. The workflow should have
configurable steps, delegations, approvals/rejections,
notifications and others.
FR-02.1.5-02 The system should allow filing due date extensions for M
some (based on tax type, location, tax centre, tax
authority, taxpayer segment and others) or all
taxpayers due to Government decisions. It should
allow the preparation, review, of such extensions.
FR-02.1.5-03 The system shall communicate the filing due date M
extension in bulk printing and/or bulk emailing. For
taxpayers who are affected by the extension using e-
services, this extension notification should be
available on the platform.
FR-02.1.5-04 The system shall consider approved due date M
extensions when calculating returns from self-
assessed returns and amended returns.

18 | P a g e
 The system shall check whether penalty and interest
have been waived as part of the approved extension
request and apply those when calculating returns
under Return Processing.

2.2.2. Amendment of Previously Submitted Returns

2.2.2.1. Electronic Amendment of Previously Submitted Return

ID Requirement Description Priority Remark

(Mandatory (M)/
Preferred (P)
FR-02.2.1-01 The system shall allow (officers, agents and M
taxpayers) to view previous/past tax returns submitted.

FR-02.2.1-02 The system shall allow a taxpayer/tax agent to select M

the latest version of a submitted return to revise based
on configured business rules.

While most assessment can be reassessed, there are

some business rules to follow. For instance, if an
assessment is under audit or objection, it cannot be
amended by taxpayer. There are other business rules
such as time limit for requesting amendment (5 years).
Frequency of amendment and others.
FR-02.2.1-03 The system shall allow the taxpayer/ tax agent to M
revise the return line values of the latest version of a
submitted return.
FR-02.2.1-04 The system shall allow the taxpayer to upload revised M
return and annexes (in all formats).

FR-02.2.1-05 The system shall allow the taxpayer to manually edit M

return lines and annexes by showing previously
submitted annexes.
FR-02.2.1-06 The system shall allow the taxpayer/tax officer to view M

19 | P a g e
 ID Requirement Description Priority Remark
(Mandatory (M)/
Preferred (P)
both the original and revised values of a return for a
tax period.
FR-02.2.1-07 The system shall allow the taxpayer to submit a M
revised return and annexes.
FR-02.2.1-08 The system shall flag original and revised M
assessments with appropriate descriptions.
The system should allow configuration of different
types of assessments such as self, estimated,
reassessed and others.
FR-02.2.1-09 The system shall maintain return lines of each M
revision.
FR-02.2.1-10 The system shall allow taxpayers to select revision M
reasons.

The system shall allow configuration of

revision/reassessment reason.
FR-02.2.1-11 The system shall treat amended returns similar to M
original returns by validating, calculating and verifying
inputs by the taxpayer. If any of validations,
verifications and calculations fail, the system should
flag the amendment as incomplete.

FR-02.2.1-nn The system shall allow saving incomplete returns for M

the tax officer or taxpayer to complete them when
ready. Such returns shall be flagged incomplete and
won’t be considered as filed until all fields are
captured and data is submitted.
FR-02.2.1-12 The system shall print and/or email amendment M
confirmation notifications. The system shall also show
printable versions of notification confirmations.
FR-02.2.1-13 The system shall check arithmetical accuracy and M
makes sure all necessary fields are completed.
FR-02.2.1-14 The system shall display taxpayer filled and submitted M
values along with system validated and calculated
values.
Note: for manually supplied returns both the taxpayer
submitted values and the system verified values will
be stored in the database once submitted.
For online returns the system would not permit
‘submission’ until the return is internally consistent and
valid.)
FR-02.2.1-15 The system shall update the taxpayer ledger based on M
the return information provided by the taxpayer and
validated by the system.
FR-02.2.1-16 The system shall print/email a notification of M
acknowledgment when an amended return is
successfully submitted. The content of the notification
will be agreed at requirement validation stage but
should include the taxpayer basic details and the
details of the validated return.
FR-02.2.1-17 The system shall call for all functionalities used for M
processing of original return. (All the functionalities
and validation used at the time of submitting original
filing shall be applied to the amended filing data.)
FR-02.2.1-18 The system shall recalculate taxes, penalty and M
interest based on revised values. It should consider
payments, credits, exemptions, refunds, filing, due

20 | P a g e
 ID Requirement Description Priority Remark
(Mandatory (M)/
Preferred (P)
date extension during the recalculation.
FR-02.2.1-19 The system shall track different versions of return (e.g. M
as filed, as amended, corrected)

FR-02.2.1-20 The system shall keep the audit trail of the original M
return and all amendments.
FR-02.2.1-21 The systems shall reassess all assessments that M
depend on or are related to the amended assessment.
Balances of each assessment must be updated
accordingly.
FR-02.2.1-22 The system should allow waiver of administrative M
penalty if a taxpayer amends return and pays
outstanding liability before an audit investigation.

21 | P a g e
2.2.2.2. Manual Amendment of Previously Submitted Return

ID Requirement Description Priority Remark

(Mandatory (M)/
Preferred (P)
FR-02.2.2-01 The system shall allow viewing of previous/past tax M
submitted returns by officer.

FR-02.2.2-02 The system shall allow a tax officer (return processing M

officer and/or tax auditor) to select the latest version of
a submitted return to revise.
FR-02.2.2-03 The system shall allow printing of pre-populated return M
form (basic taxpayer data and/or transactional data)
for taxpayers to fill revised values into.
FR-02.2.2-04 The system shall allow the tax officer (return M
processing officer and/or tax auditor) to manually
capture revised return form contents/line values or
upload scanned revised return form.
FR-02.2.2-05 The system shall allow the tax officer (return M
processing officer and/or tax auditor) to upload revised
annexes (in all formats) or manually capture details of
revised annexes.
FR-02.2.2-06 The system should allow the tax officer (return M
processing officer and/or tax auditor) to edit annexes
by showing previously submitted annexes.
FR-02.2.2-07 The system shall allow the tax officer (return M
processing officer and/or tax auditor) to view both the
submitted and revised values of a return for a tax
period.
FR-02.2.2-08 The system shall allow the tax officer (return M
processing officer and/or tax auditor) to submit a
revised return and annexes.
FR-02.2.2-09 The system should flag original and revised M
assessments with appropriate descriptions.

The system shall allow saving incomplete returns for

the tax officer or taxpayer to complete them when

22 | P a g e
 ID Requirement Description Priority Remark
(Mandatory (M)/
Preferred (P)
ready. Such returns shall be flagged incomplete and
won’t be considered as filed until all fields are
captured and data is submitted.
FR-02.2.2-10 The system should allow tax officers return processing M
officer and/or tax auditor) and taxpayers to select
revision reasons.
FR-02.2.2-11 The system shall check arithmetical accuracy and M
makes sure all necessary fields are completed.
FR-02.2.2-12 The system shall display taxpayer/ officer revised and M
submitted values along with system validated and
calculated values. Both the taxpayer/ officer revised
values and the system verified values will be stored in
the database once submitted.
FR-02.2.2-13 The system shall update the taxpayer ledger based on M
the return information provided by the taxpayer and
validated by the system.
FR-02.2.2-14 The system shall print/email a notification of M
acknowledgment when a return is successfully
submitted. The content of the notification will be
agreed at requirement validation stage but should
include the taxpayer basic details and the details of
the validated return.
FR-02.2.2-15 The system shall call for all functionalities used for M
processing of original filing. (All the functionalities and
validation used at the time of submitting original filing
shall be applied to the amended filing data.)
FR-02.2.2-16 The system shall recalculate taxes, penalty and M
interest based on revised values. It should consider
payments, credits, exemptions, filing due date
extensions during the recalculation.
FR-02.2.2-17 The systems shall track different versions of return M
(e.g. as filed, as amended, corrected)
FR-02.2.2-18 The system shall keep the audit trail of the original M
return and all amendments.
FR-02.2.1-19 The systems shall reassess all assessments that M
depend on or are related to the amended assessment.
Balances of each assessment must be updated
accordingly.
FR-02.2.1-20 The system should allow waiver of administrative M
penalty if a taxpayer amends return and pays
outstanding liability before an audit investigation.
FR-02.2.1-21 The system shall automatically conduct Return M
Processing for high risk taxpayers and those randomly
selected returns.

23 | P a g e
2.2.3. Non-Filer – Identification, Notification and Follow-Up

ID Requirement Description Priority Remark

Mandatory (M)
/ Preferred (P)
FR-02.3-01 The system shall provide a report showing taxpayers
who have not yet filed beginning from time taxpayers are
expected to start filing way up to the time of the due date M
filtered by tax centre, tax type, officer (account owner) or
other filters to be added.
FR-02.3-02 The system shall report on non-filers immediately after
the end of the filing due date. This should consider filing
due date extension for taxpayer or due to Government M
decision. The report shall be filtered by account owner
(officer), tax period, tax type, tax centre or other filters.
FR-02.3-03 The system shall generate a separate report of late filers
and non-filers on newly registered taxpayers until they
M
make monthly returns for a year and at least one return
per tax type for which they are registered.
FR-02.3-04 The system shall print and/or send email and/or SMS
notification to the taxpayer informing non-compliance for
the specific period. M
The content of the notification will be validated during
requirement validation.
FR-02.3-05 The system should cross-check transactions of non-filer
taxpayer using internal and third-party data available in M
the data warehouse.
FR-02.3-06 The system should provide reports on non-filer taxpayers M
with or without transactions in internal and third-party
data available in the data warehouse. The report shall be

24 | P a g e
 ID Requirement Description Priority Remark
Mandatory (M)
/ Preferred (P)
filtered by account owner (officer), tax period, tax type,
tax centre or other filters.
FR-02.3-07 The system shall allow administrators to define
compliance actions to be taken based on predefined
parameterized criteria including timing and the default
action to be taken. Examples of compliance actions are:
·        Sending Late Notices M
·        Sending estimated assessments

The parameterized criteria, timing and compliance

actions to take should be configurable.
FR-02.3-08 The system shall trigger the requirements under M
Estimated Assessment sub-process depending on the
configuration of the non-filer workflow.
FR-02.3-09 The system shall notify through email and/or SMS to the M
taxpayer on the generation of estimated assessment
notice. The system shall print, and/or email estimated
assessment notice to the taxpayer.

The content of the estimated assessment notice will be

validated during requirement validation.
FR-02.3-10 The system shall avail estimated assessment on e- M
services portal for all e-service users.
FR-02.3-11 The system shall flag appropriate labels for estimated M
assessments from a list of assessment types.
FR-02.3-12 The system shall update the taxpayer ledger based on M
the values from the estimated assessment.
FR-02.3-13 The system shall notify through email and/or SMS to the M
taxpayer on the changes to the ledger/taxpayer account.
FR-02.3-14 The system shall automatically generate an estimated M
assessment for taxpayers who fail to file their returns by
due date following timing and the attached compliance
action. Once the taxpayer files the self-assessed return,
this estimated assessment must be automatically
replaced by the taxpayers return if accepted by the Tax
Officer. The system shall capture a self-assessment
return separately when an Estimated Assessment has
already been issued. The self-assessment return
captured after the estimated assessment is considered
as an amendment if approved by the Tax Officer.
FR-02.3-15 The system shall update the taxpayer ledger based on M
the estimated assessment or an approved self-
assessment that is filed after an estimated assessment
have been issued.

25 | P a g e
2.2.3.1. Estimated Assessment

Priority
Mandatory
ID Requirement Description Remark
(M) / Preferred
(P)
FR-02.3.1-01 The system shall report a taxpayer filing and payment
M
history.
FR-02.3.1-02 The system shall determine and estimate a non-filer/s M
assessment for a given period based on historical data
of the taxpayer/s. Configurable business rules e.g how
many months to review, average or maximum or
minimum, what if non-filer for past 3 months, how long
to wait before estimating an assessment after due date.
FR-02.3.1-03 The system shall analyze return data of similar M Configuration to
taxpayers. The system shall allow configuration of define similarity.

26 | P a g e
 Priority
Mandatory
ID Requirement Description Remark
(M) / Preferred
(P)
business rules to determine similarity among taxpayers.
FR-02.3.1-04 The system shall review data about taxpayer/s in M
internal and third-party databases available in the data
warehouse.
FR-02.3.1-05 The system shall allow team leaders to assign officer or M
committee to determine estimated assessment in
particular when other relevant information (in data
warehouse, third party data or similar business is
missing) or for regional and city administration individual
taxpayers.
FR-02.3.1-06 The system shall consider filing due date extension, M
exemptions, accounting periods of the taxpayer when
estimating assessments.
FR-02.3.1-07 The system shall compare estimates from various M
sources (historical data, third-party data, manual
estimation, and similar business estimation) and
recommend the most appropriate estimate.

The system shall allow configuration of the business

rule to compare various sources of estimated
assessment.
FR-02.3.1-08 The system shall capture the decision of the team M
leader to approve or reject estimate. If rejection, it
should allow to capture reasons for rejection.

27 | P a g e
2.2.3.1.1. Estimate Determination by Committee/ Tax Officer

ID Requirement Description Priority Remark

Mandatory (M)
/ Preferred (P)
FR-02.3.1.1-01 The system shall allow the team leader to M
assign/reassign an officer or a team/committee to
estimate assessment/s.
FR-02.3.1.1-02 The system shall allow the tax officer or committee to M
capture details of the estimation including attachment of
supporting documentations and decision reports (if any).
FR-02.3.1.1-03 The system shall allow the team leader to review and M
approve/reject an estimate.
FR-02.3.1.1-04 The system shall allow the tax officer to capture an M
approved estimated assessment.

28 | P a g e
2.2.4. Presumptive Tax Determination

Priority
Mandatory
ID Requirement Description Remark
(M) / Preferred
(P)
FR-02.4-01 The system should allow capturing data and upload
supporting documents related to the determination of M
daily revenue estimates.
FR-02.4-02 The system shall recommend daily revenue estimate for M
a taxpayer based on previous estimates and/or nearest
neighbor analysis.
FR-02.4-03 The system shall allow a team leader or manager to M
review and approve/reject daily revenue estimates for
presumptive tax.
The system shall allow the team leader or manager to
record rejection reasons and reroute the determination
back to the officer/committee assigned to determine
daily estimate.
FR-02.4-04 The system shall allow the tax officer to fill and print M
presumptive tax form for category C taxpayers.
FR-02.4-05 The system shall send notifications to taxpayers when M
daily revenue estimates are determined. This
notification can be in SMS, print and or email.
FR-02.4-06 The system shall allow capturing of additional M
documentations in case a taxpayer opposes the
estimate. In such circumstances, the system shall
restart the presumptive tax determination workflow from
first step using the newly available information.
FR-02.4-07 The system shall calculate presumptive tax to be paid M
based on the daily revenue estimate, standard tax rate
per sector and other factors.

29 | P a g e
 Priority
Mandatory
ID Requirement Description Remark
(M) / Preferred
(P)
The system shall allow configuration of tax rates and
calculation rules for all presumptive tax sectors as
defined by law. The system shall also allow
configuration of new presumptive tax sector as deemed
necessary by law.
FR-02.4-08 The system shall allow tax officer to print presumptive M
tax to pay.
FR-02.4-09 The system shall send notifications to taxpayers when M
presumptive tax to pay are calculated. This notification
can be in SMS, print and or email.

The system shall allow configuration of the content of

the notifications.
FR-02.4-10 The system shall send reminders to pay within the M
statutory period.
The system shall allow configuration of content, number
and frequency of reminders.
FR-02.4-11 The system shall consider presumptive tax M
determination similar to self-assessed returns for the
purpose of payment, debt management, appeals, audit,
and application of penalty and interest.

30 | P a g e
2.2.5. Process of Municipality Fees and Non-Tax Revenues
2.2.5.1. Process of Municipality Fees and Non-Tax Revenues With Interface

Priority
Mandatory
ID Requirement Description Remark
(M) / Preferred
(P)
FR-02.5.1-01 The system shall interface with line ministries and M
agencies that determine municipal fees and non-tax
revenue to be paid by taxpayers.
Such Bill of Payment shall be sent to registered
taxpayer with a configurable ‘fair time’ for payment due
date.
FR-02.5.1-02 The system shall store all incoming bill information from M
line ministries and agencies.
FR-02.5.1-03 The system shall allow configuration of various bills M
collected or to be collected by tax authorities.
FR-02.5.1-04 The system shall validate and automatically generate M
immediate assessment notice based on the bill
information.
The system shall allow configuration of content of the
immediate assessment notice.
FR-02.5.1-05 The system shall route the bill process to Payment core M
process.
FR-02.5.1-06 The system shall send receipt to taxpayer and line M
ministry or agency.

31 | P a g e
2.2.5.2. Process of Municipality Fees and Non-Tax Revenues Without Interface

Priority
Mandatory
ID Requirement Description Remark
(M) / Preferred
(P)
FR-02.5.2-01 The system shall allow a tax officer to capture details of M
the bill to pay.
Such Bill of Payment shall be sent to registered
taxpayer with a configurable ‘fair time’ for payment due
date.
FR-02.5.2-02 The system shall allow the tax officer to generate and M
print an immediate assessment notice.

The system shall allow configuration of content of the

immediate assessment notice.
FR-02.5.2-03 The system shall route the bill process to Payment core M
process.
FR-02.5.2-04 The system shall allow tax officer to print receipt to M
taxpayer and line ministry or agency.
FR-02.5.2-05 The system shall allow configuration of various bills M
collected or to be collected by tax authorities.

32 | P a g e
2.2.6. Return Processing

Priority
Mandatory
ID Requirement Description Remark
(M) / Preferred
(P)
FR-02.6-01 The system shall crossmatch the return and annex with M
invoice data from cash register machines, e-invoice
and/or captured manual receipt data.

The system shall have the ability to interface with cash

register machines and/or e-invoicing system.
FR-02.6-02 M At the time of
writing, for the
purposes of
obtaining fixed
The system shall crossmatch the return and annex with price bids, the
transactional data from third-party systems availed list of
through the data warehouse. transactional
data from third
party systems
is:
<insert list>
FR-02.6-03 The system shall allow configuration of crossmatching M
rules for each tax form, form version and form line of
each tax type.
FR-02.6-04 The system shall display all variances between return M
and annex data submitted or amended by taxpayer and
those crossmatched by the system with data from
invoices and/or third-party systems.
FR-02.6-05 The system shall allow tax officer to send letters M
requesting for additional supporting documentation.

The system shall allow configuration of the content of

the letter template.
FR-02.6-06 The system shall allow the taxpayer to upload M

33 | P a g e
 Priority
Mandatory
ID Requirement Description Remark
(M) / Preferred
(P)
requested additional documents or in case of manual
filer, the system shall allow the tax officer to scan and
upload paper additional supporting document submitted
by the taxpayer.
FR-02.6-07 The system shall allow the tax officer to either approve M
variances between taxpayer submitted or amended
return and annex and those crossmatched with invoice
data and/or with third-party data.
FR-02.6-08 The system shall calculate tax, late filer penalty and M
interest as per defined rules which includes exemption
rules and extended filing due dates.
A taxpayer with compelling special circumstances can
apply for waver of penalties and interest. The system
should therefore have online provisions for application
of waver of penalties and interest. These also have to
go through approval levels. These follow guidelines
under Debt Management.
The system shall consider all payments for this specific
return when recalculating.
The system should allow the configuration of
Assessment calculation rules for each tax type, form
and form version.

The system should allow configuration of Rates (tax,

penalty, interest), applicable business rules,
administrative penalties, exemption types, rules, and
application scenarios.
FR-02.6-09 The system shall consider filing due date extensions, M
waivers, exemptions, and accounting periods of
taxpayer/s when recalculating returns or amended
returns.
FR-02.6-10 In case the taxpayer has under-filed, the system shall M
determine the additional assessment and flag the return
or amended return as under-filed.
FR-02.6-11 The system shall update the taxpayer ledger based on M
the recalculated assessment values.
FR-02.6-12 The system shall print/email an additional assessment M
notice. The content of the notice will be agreed at
requirement validation stage but should include the
taxpayer basic details and the details of the submitted
or amended return and the values recalculated.
The system shall display the additional assessment on
the e-service portal for print and/or view by taxpayer.
FR-02.6-13 In case the taxpayer has over-filed, the system shall flag M
the assessment as over-filed or potential refund.
FR-02.6-14 The system shall compare return and annex values M
submitted or amended by taxpayer with the return
submission history of the taxpayer, and with return and
annex values submitted by nearest neighbor taxpayers.

The system shall allow configuration of comparison

rules.
The system shall allow configuration of business rules
to determine similarity among taxpayers for the purpose
of comparison using nearest neighbor analysis.
FR-02.6-15 The system shall review data to identify fake receipts M

34 | P a g e
 Priority
Mandatory
ID Requirement Description Remark
(M) / Preferred
(P)
and fraudulent transactions.

The business rules to determine fraudulent transactions

should be configurable.
FR-02.6-16 The system shall trigger Tax Fraud investigation case M
for fraudulent transactions.

2.2.7. Refund Processing

ID Requirement Description Priority Remark

Mandatory (M)
/ Preferred (P)
FR-02.7-01 The system shall avail list of potential refunds M
report for the taxpayer and tax officer.

All refund business rules of a tax authority and

specific to tax types should be configurable.
Including when to request, how much to request,
How many refund requests per tax period are ok,
what if an earlier request is not approved yet but
another request is submitted, how long to wait
before a refund can be requested, whether
refund processing can be started without a
taxpayer request.

The overall refund processing shall be based on

35 | P a g e
 ID Requirement Description Priority Remark
Mandatory (M)
/ Preferred (P)
a case management flow.
FR-02.7-02 The system shall allow submission of refund M
requests in person or in kiosk or via e-services
portal.
FR-02.7-03 The system shall print a pre-populated refund M
form for manual request.

The contents of the form will be agreed during

requirement validation.
FR-02.7-04 The system shall open pre-populated refund M
form for taxpayer to fill on the e-service portal.
The contents of the form will be agreed during
requirement validation.
FR-02.7-05 The system shall allow the tax officer to capture M
the refund request.
FR-02.7-06 The system shall perform validations and M
verifications on the request.
FR-02.7-07 The system shall print, email or SMS notification M
indicating a refund request has been submitted
with the refund details.
FR-02.7-08 The system shall automatically start processing M Might require legal
of refunds once a return processing is completed change.
or up on configurable time even when taxpayer
don’t request for the refund.
FR-02.7-09 The system shall determine if the refund request M
is by privileged person. If so, it should divert to
Refund Request by Privileged person process.
FR-02.7-10 If the refund requested is for Excise Tax, the M
system shall divert to the Refund for Excise Tax
process (FR-02.2.7.1).
From a system perspective, there are no
requirements unique to Excise Refund
processes.
FR-02.7-11 The system shall review and recalculate the M
latest assessment for which a refund request is
submitted for and determine if there is any
balance to refund.
FR-02.7-12 The system shall reject all or a portion of a M
refund request if the recalculated balance is
reduced, is zero or negative. The rejection notice
shall be printed and/or emailed to the taxpayer
along with a notification on SMS, email.
FR-02.7-13 The system shall determine the risk level of the M
taxpayer per defined risk scoring model within
the system.

Risk scoring model is a component of risk and

compliance management module.
FR-02.7-14 If the risk level is high, the system shall allow the M
team leader or process owner to review the
request and analysis by system/officer.
FR-02.7-15 If risk level is low or the refund is approved by M
the team leader/process owner, the system shall
offset outstanding liabilities of assessment before
or after the assessment for which a refund is
requested and/or offset outstanding liabilities of
other assessments in other tax types.

36 | P a g e
 ID Requirement Description Priority Remark
Mandatory (M)
/ Preferred (P)
The system shall allow configuration of the
priority and sequencing of offsetting (tax vs
penalty vs interest, similar tax type vs other tax
types, audit assessments vs self-assessments,
and so on).

The system shall allow configuration of refund

rules as defined by law which might differ from
tax type to tax type and from tax authority to Multiple configurations
another. based on tax types and
law requirements by
region
The system shall consider approved payment
agreements when offsetting other assessments.

FR-02.7-16 The system shall generate a report indicating M

how an available refund has been distributed to
offset other liabilities. The report should show
how much has been distributed to which
assessment for tax, penalty and interest among
other information.
FR-02.7-17 The system shall print and/or email the report to M
the taxpayer.
FR-02.7-18 The system shall avail printable version of the M
refund distribution report on the e-services portal.
FR-02.7-19 The system shall issue a payment order to M
transfer the remaining refund balance to
taxpayer bank account details available in the
taxpayer ledger using an API with the taxpayer
bank and/or payment integrator.

In case, bank transfer is not possible the system

shall allow capturing information about the
cheque used for refund such as cheque number,
bank, bank account number, date cheque
issued, date cheque approved, comment and
others.

FR-02.7-20 The system shall capture date when a refund M

cheque is used at bank by taxpayer, i.e. when
reported by bank to MOR.
FR-02.7-21 The system shall generate a report showing M
refund transfer report indicating amount
requested, date requested, date approved for
audited requests, amount distributed to offset
outstanding liability, amount transferred to bank
account, date of transfer, bank account details
and other information.

Reports should also cover:

 Refund by budget code.
 Offset report
 Outstanding refunds by status.
 Approved refunds by Division
 ‘Ring Fencing’ report (if the funding for
refunds is given to MoR).

37 | P a g e
 ID Requirement Description Priority Remark
Mandatory (M)
/ Preferred (P)
 Productivity reports by staff.
FR-02.7-22 The system shall print and/or email the refund M
transfer report.
FR-02.7-23 The system shall avail printable version of the M
refund transfer report on the e-services portal.
FR-02.7-24 M
The system shall update bank transfer status.

FR-02.7-26 The system shall handle refund in a workflow M

management model where there steps request,
assign(officer and approver), review, determine,
approve, offset and transfer (example). In
addition, status of the refund is clearly indicated
(Requested, Opened, Reviewed, Approved,
Rejected, Offset, Transferred, Closed). The
status of a refund should be shown on the e-
services portal.
FR-02.7-27 The system shall update the taxpayer M
ledger/account based on the outputs of the
refund case flow.
Ledger should only be updated when amounts
are either used for off-set or when a transfer
instruction is sent to bank.
FR-02.7-28 The system shall send notification (SMS and/or M
email) to the taxpayer on the update of the
ledger.

FR-02.7-29 The system shall not generate refund M

assessment notices for taxes for which refunds
are not allowed based on predefined business
rules.
FR-02.7-30 The system shall link refund assessment notices M
to the respective assessment period
FR-02.7-31 The system shall recalculate each assessment M
after a refund is approved. This recalculation
should also include those assessments that are
related to the specific assessment a refund is
requested.
FR-02.7-32 The system shall have the facility for taxpayers M
to specify whether the excess tax paid should be
refunded or kept as a credit for settling future
liabilities.
FR-02.7-33 The system shall validate the fields entered in M
the refund form prior to it being submitted by the
taxpayer. Any errors/mistakes found shall be
reported to the taxpayer during the same
session.
FR-02.7-34 The system shall generate a unique refund M
request number for tracking the date refund
request is received, the date actual refund is
made. status of each refund request to compute
and report on the time taken to make a refund or
communicate to taxpayer on the decision on the
refund
FR-02.7-35 The system shall generate exception reports on M
any approved refund requests for which payment

38 | P a g e
 ID Requirement Description Priority Remark
Mandatory (M)
/ Preferred (P)
confirmation has not been received from the
bank.
FR-02.7-36 The system shall calculate and use to offset M
liabilities and/or transfer to bank any interest on
delayed refunds.

The system shall allow configuration of interest

rates.
FR-02.7-37 The system shall group multiple overpayment M
periods for one taxpayer into one refund.
FR-02.7-38 The system shall split an overpayment into a M
credit and refund.
FR-02.7-39 The system shall provide the capability to make M
an alert when approaching the end of statutory
time period for payment of refunds.
FR-02.7-40 The system shall trigger Tax Fraud Investigation M
case for refund claims based on fraudulent
transactions.

2.2.7.1. Refund for Excise Tax

Priority
ID Requirement Description Mandatory (M) Remark
/ Preferred (P)
FR-02.7.1.1-01 The system shall enable Taxpayer/ Tax agent to notify MoR of M
the exact quantity, type of goods and the excise that was paid on
the goods that is refunded.
FR-02.7.1.1-02 The system shall enable Tax Officer to review the request to M
refund Excise tax on goods.

39 | P a g e
 Priority
ID Requirement Description Mandatory (M) Remark
/ Preferred (P)
FR-02.7.1.1-03 If the taxpayer risk level is low, the system shall notify taxpayer M
to submit/upload evidence of the destruction/ export/ procedure
used to create non excisable goods.
The system shall allow configuration of reasons for Excise tax
refund such as export, destruction of goods or others as
necessary by law.
FR-02.7.1.1-04 The system shall enable Taxpayer/ Tax agent to provide M
evidence of the destruction/ export/ procedure of goods that is
refunded. If within one week (or other configurable duration)
taxpayer fail to submit the evidence, the request to refund excise
tax on goods are aborted automatically by the system.
FR-02.7.1.1-05 If the taxpayer risk level is high, the system shall allow the tax M
officer to schedule (or reschedule) a field visit and send
notification to taxpayer.
The system shall allow configuration of the content of the
notification.
FR-02.7.1.1-06 If the taxpayer risk level is high, the system shall enable Tax M
Officer to upload the evidence of site visit and verification of the
destruction/ export of goods that is refunded.
FR-02.7.1.1-07 The system shall enable Tax Officer to review the refund request M
based on the evidence submitted by taxpayer or based on the
site visit / witness evidence submitted by Tax Officer. The system
shall enable Tax officer to submit the refund amount to Process
Owner for approval.

2.2.7.2. Refund Processing for Privileged Persons

40 | P a g e
 ID Requirement Description Priority Remark
Mandatory
(M) /Preferred
(P)
FR-02.7.2-01 The system shall enable privileged taxpayer to submit M
VAT refund request.

FR-02.7.2-02 The system shall allow team leader to assign the M

refund request to a refund team.

FR-02.7.2-03 The system shall enable the tax office to upload M

supporting documents for VAT refund request as
needed by the refund team.
FR-02.7.2-04 The system shall enable refund team to review refund M
request. If there is insufficient evidence, the system
shall enable refund officer to send/print a request to
privileged persons to submit additional supporting
documents.
FR-02.7.2-05 The system shall enable Refund team to validate M
invoices and analyze refund request

FR-02.7.2-06 If the result of refund validation is full or partial M

rejection, the system shall enable Refund team to send
rejection letter to privileged persons.
FR-02.7.2-07 The system shall allow the refund officer to nominate a M
value for refund and request for approval if the amount
is big.

The system shall allow configuration of threshold to

determine if a nominated value should be approved by
team leader.
FR-02.7.2-08 The system shall allow the team leader to approve or M
reject or request for review on the refund request,
analysis completed and nominated value.

2.2.8. Filing related administrative Module requirements

ID Requirement Description Priority Remark
Mandatory
(M) /
Preferred (P)
FR-02.8-01 Configurable items (base tables) related to filing M
● Forms, version, form lines
● Forms for different categories of taxpayers
● Annexes, annex attributes
● Tax types, tax periods (partial, full), tax
period types, filing frequency, due dates
● Administrative penalties and fines.
● tax period (Ethiopian calendar, Gregorian
calendar)
● Tax rates, penalty rates, interest rates each
by tax type and/or form.
● Assessment types
● Assessment reasons
● filing due date extension for a taxpayer
● Notice content and layout (assessment,
reassessment, estimated assessment)
● Reminders and notification layouts and
contents

41 | P a g e
 ● Penalty and interest calculation base
● Credit transfer rules
● All configurable items can be configured
separately for each regional tax authority.
All configurations should have date validity range
and the processing shall use the appropriate config
set for the time period for which the return applies
FR-02.8-02 Configurable business rules
● Tax period types (standard Ethiopian
calendar year, standard Gregorian calendar
year, standard Ethiopian fiscal/budget year,
other taxpayer specific tax periods)
● Calculation of assessment
● Tax Rate
● When and where to apply penalty
● When and where to apply interest
● Refund rules
● Estimated assessment rules
● Credit transfer rules
● Refund offsetting rules
● Liability offsetting rules (ex first tax, then M
penalty, then interest or the other way)
● Write-off rules for charges
● Non-filer rules
● Return amendment rules
● Where and when to apply exemption
● Tax holiday rules
● Loss rules
● All configurable business rules can be
configured separately for each regional tax
authority.
● Definitions of tax fraud and the related
business rules to detect fraudulent
transactions.
FR-02.8-03 Provide capability to maintain tax return forms for M
different tax periods and allow changes during a
given tax period.
FR-02.8-04 Periodically add filing period entries for the next
immediate configurable tax period via batch process. M
FR-02.8-05 Record variations in tax rate for different periods for
the tax calculation modules M
FR-02.8-06 Calculate the due date for a return having regard to M
the legislation and administrative arrangements
FR-02.8-07 The system shall provide the ability to determine M
whether a return for a particular tax type and return
type should be expected from a taxpayer
FR-02.8-08 The system shall establish the due date for all return M
types according to tax administration legislation and
administrative arrangements.
FR-02.8-09 The system shall be able to recognize and flag M
taxpayers that meet criteria for incentive (such as
early refund payment) based on tax return filing

42 | P a g e
2.2.9. Assessment notices

ID Requirement Description Priority (Mandatory Remark

(M)/Preferred (P)

FR-02.9-01 The system shall track the status of the estimated

and/or tax auditor amended assessment notices (e.g.
served to the taxpayer, appealed, complied, cancelled,
etc.) by the responsible tax officer and by the
taxpayer.

2.2.10. Filing and Refund Processing Related Dashboard, Summary and

Detail Reports

ID Requirement Description Priority (Mandatory Remark

(M)/Preferred (P)

FR-02.10-01 The system shall provide Summary and detail reports M

related to filing and returns processing. Some of the
key reports the system shall include are listed below.
The reports details will be further rectified during
requirements validation stage.
● A filing summary dashboard report (for e
filers) with:
○ Expected filings/returns by tax type, tax
period, tax center and branch /
establishment etc.
○ Expected filings by tax type, tax period,
tax center, etc. for newly registered
taxpayers of 12 months or less since
registration
○ History of filing with drill down
capabilities
○ Incomplete/In progress filings
○ Taxpayer Ledger/Account balances
summary by tax types, tax period etc.
with drill down capabilities
○ Potential refunds report
○ Non filed periods
○ Refund cases status report
● Filing reports for tax officers
○ Summary and detail interactive reports
of expected filers, filers, non-filers with
drill down capabilities
○ List of filing due date extension
requests reports
○ List of self-assessed with drill down
capabilities
○ List of estimated assessments
○ List of refund requests with status

43 | P a g e
 ○ Refund cases and statuses
○ List of potential refunds
○ List of tax period due date extensions
○ Report to show returns failing two-way
invoice matching
○ Statistical report on nil and credit filers
for VAT with list of taxpayers
○ Statistical report on CIT loss filers,
consecutive three loss filings, filers with
taxable profits below a given threshold
of industrial average, with option to
generate lists of each category
○ Discrepancy report comparing total of
monthly PAYE payments against
payments computed based on detailed
annual payroll list submissions

44 | P a g e