A new OASIS 'Tax XML' Technical Committee is being formed to "focus on developing a common vocabulary that will allow participants to unambiguously identify the tax related information exchanged within a particular business context. The Tax XML TC will begin by creating a framework for ongoing development of a robust Tax vocabulary, the XML artifacts and a repository for managing these definitions, and documentation. It is expected that a subset of the overall tax information arena will be selected for the greatest return on investment and will be expanded as appropriate. Eventually, it is expected that working groups and possibly additional TCs will be formed to address an expanded scope of tax information... Tax XML will rely heavily on incorporating the XML standards that are defined for the common business vocabulary. Since tax related information spans many business interests and is mostly either an extension of common business documents or a repackaging of business information for tax compliance documents, any existing or in progress standards for business information will be examined and incorporated as appropriate. It is expected that this coordination and collaboration will be conducted with XBRL (The Extensible Business Reporting Language), and other leading initiatives as needed."

From the 2002-11-11 announcement:

Tax XML is an initiative to research and analyze personal and business tax reporting & compliance information, represented in XML, to facilitate interoperability in a way that is open, flexible and international in scope. The products of Tax XML will include a vocabulary of terms, a repository of artifacts including XML templates, documents exchanged for tax compliance, best practices, guidelines and recommendations for practical implementation. It will focus on developing a common vocabulary that will allow participants to unambiguously identify the tax related information exchanged within a particular business context.

The benefits envisioned will include dramatic reductions in development of jurisdictionally specific applications and interchange standards for software vendors and tax agencies alike. Also, tax paying constituents will benefit from increased services from tax agencies and service providers due to more flexible interchange formats and reduced development efforts. Lastly, CRM, payroll, financial and other system developers will enjoy reduced development costs and schedules when integrating their systems with tax reporting and compliance systems.

The interchange of information for tax compliance involves many participants including businesses, governments, financial institutions, legal services, solution providers, etc. that are involved in one or more of the many aspects that make up the tax compliance domain. This domain can be organized into several categories of activity:

• Tax Legislation: Enacting tax laws that create or alter tax liability requirements
• Tax Planning: Analysis and planning for the minimization of tax liability
• Tax Registration: Registration with a tax authority for certification or rights to collect taxes within the authority's jurisdiction
• Tax Calculation: Calculation of the tax liability of events and circumstances that are defined as taxable under the law
• Tax Filing: Submitting reports of events and circumstances based on tax collected within a period of time to a tax authority
• Tax Remittance: Submitting payment for outstanding tax collected and tax liability
• Tax Distribution: Distributing tax funds collected to tax jurisdictions
• Tax Audit: Examining taxpayer compliance with tax liability requirements

Proposal co-sponsors consist of the following OASIS members committed to participating in the activities and meetings of the Tax XML TC are:

• Gregory Carson, US Internal Revenue Service, gregory.g.carson@irs.gov
• Andy Greener, Inland Revenue UK, andy@gid.co.uk
• Rod Quiney, Canada Customs and Revenue Agency, rod.quiney@ccra-adrc.gc.ca
• John Glaubitz, Vertex, Inc., John.Glaubitz@vertexinc.com
• Sinisa Zimek, SAP, sinisa.zimek@sap.com
• Jouko Salonen, Republica, jouko.salonen@republica.fi
• Norbert Kouwenhoven, IBM, Norbert.Kouwenhoven@nl.ibm.com
• Marcel Noordzij, Software AG Nederland b.v., Marcel.Noordzij@softwareag.com
• Harm-Jan van Burg, individual member, hjvanburg@burgcomm.nl
• Stan Whaley, individual member, WhaleyS@dor.state.fl.us