The tax-related enquiries we aim to provide for taxpayers refer to professional advisory services delivered in response to taxpayers' requests regarding tax expertise. This is a professional service activity that imparts tax knowledge, safeguards taxpayers' legitimate rights and interests, and implements tax legal frameworks. Tax authorities establish dedicated institutions or utilize existing human and material resources to offer tax-related enquiries, primarily covering tax laws and regulations, tax compliance procedures, and other tax-related issues.

From the taxpayers' perspective, tax policies often change in response to economic conditions. Taxpayers may make declaration errors due to issues such as failure to grasp the policies, deviations in understanding, or problems in accounting calculations. Tax authorities provide professional guidance through convenient and diverse tax-related enquiry service channels, enabling taxpayers to timely and accurately understand tax policies, fully enjoy tax preferential treatments, correctly fulfill their tax obligations, and plan tax matters in a reasonable and legal manner. At the same time, taxpayers do not have to study and understand tax laws and regulations all by themselves, which reduces the time and cost of tax compliance. It also helps avoid issues such as repeated adjustments due to incorrect declarations, tax risks arising from tax inspections, late payment surcharges, and fines. Additionally, it prevents negative consequences such as a reduction in tax credit ratings and the emergence of risk warnings that may follow. From the perspective of tax authorities, providing compliance enquiry and guidance throughout the entire lifecycle of business entities enables taxpayers to better understand tax policies, file accurate returns, and reduce information asymmetry between taxpayers and tax collectors. This improves the accuracy and completeness of declaration data, helping tax authorities reduce the workload of post-collection review, loophole plugging, error correction, and false data cleaning, thereby enhancing tax collection efficiency and lowering collection costs. Additionally, it reduces adverse consequences such as late payment fees and fines incurred by taxpayers due to misreporting or incorrect declarations, alleviates taxpayers' negative emotions, and avoids conflicts between taxpayers and tax authorities. Additionally, tax authorities can collect taxpayers' feedback and requests through tax-related enquiries, thereby optimize policy formulation and implementation, and promote continuous improvement of the tax governance system.

In the mid-19th century, along with changes in economic structure brought about by the Industrial Revolution, new taxes such as factory taxes and income taxes emerged one after another. Tax authorities began to take the initiative to assume the responsibility of tax-related enquiries. They disseminated authoritative tax information to taxpayers in a timely manner by regularly publishing tax manuals. Dedicated enquiry counters were established at local tax authorities, staffed with professional tax personnel who provided on-site resolution and written guidance.

In the post-mid-20th century, information technology became a key driver in transforming tax-related enquiries. Tax authorities began establishing telephone enquiry centers, and with the rise of the internet, official tax websites were launched, offering comprehensive tax law databases, online tax compliance guides, and frequently asked questions.

Due to significant differences in needs among taxpayers of various types and at different stages of development, many countries (regions) have begun exploring more in-depth and personalized enquiry services beyond basic and universal advice. Tax authorities in many countries (regions) have implemented personalized service strategies for different taxpayer groups. By analyzing taxpayers' behavior and needs through big data, tax authorities can deliver personalized tax information with precision.

Currently, tax-related enquiries worldwide mainly take three forms: counter enquiry, phone enquiry, and online enquiry. Counter enquiry refers to tax enquiry services provided by tax authorities at designated locations for handling tax issues, and represents the most traditional method. This modality enables accurate issue identification and rapid understanding of taxpayers' core needs. However, it requires mutual agreement on time and location, resulting in limited flexibility and relatively higher administrative costs. Phone enquiry refers to tax authorities answering taxpayers' tax-related enquiries through publicly available advisory service hotlines. Phone enquiry is widely adopted due to its convenience, efficiency, and geographical flexibility, and the option for anonymous communication allows taxpayers to express themselves more freely. However, the inability to see facial expressions, body language, and other non-verbal cues may impair comprehensive issue assessment. Online consultation refers to tax-related enquiries provided by tax authorities to taxpayers via the Internet. This enquiry method offers various formats, including text, voice, and video communication, with the capability for sharing images and documents to aid in responses. It also makes recording and retrieving enquiry records more convenient. However, online enquiries rely on internet connectivity and may pose privacy and information security risks. In practice, these three methods for tax-related enquiries often co-exist rather than operate independently. For example, tax authorities of Hong Kong, China provide tax-related enquiries services through multiple offline and online channels, including in-person taxpayer service center, hotline inquiries, the real-time interactive chatbot "Iris" , and designated email accounts. Taxpayers can have instant access to taxpayer services anytime and anywhere.

Hong Kong, China has long ranked among the top in business environment tax indicators, benefiting not only from its traditional, simple, and stable low-tax system design but also from the continuous efforts of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region to optimize taxpayer services, streamline processes, and leverage technology to enhance the tax business environment. 

(a) Taxpayer service center Face-to-face assistance: The Inland Revenue Department of Hong Kong, China (IRD) operates enquiry service counter where taxpayers can receive in-person assistance concerning tax matters, including completing tax returns and addressing specific tax queries. Drop-in box: For the convenience of taxpayers, a drop-in box is available on the ground floor of the IRD office for submitting paper tax returns and other documents to the IRD.  

(b) Hotline, chatbot and email support Tax enquiry service: The IRD provides general enquiry telephone hotlines and email service for answering taxpayers’ enquiries. This service assists taxpayers in understanding tax obligations, filing requirements, and other tax-related matters. Chatbot: The IRD has provided on its website a real time interactive service, a chatbot named “Iris”. “Iris” provides round-the-clock instant service in answering general queries relating to tax on individuals. Hotline: A dedicated hotline is available for business-related and individual-related tax enquiries, offering specialized support for corporate and individual taxpayers.

(c) Guidance and publications Tax guides and pamphlets: The IRD publishes a variety of tax guides and pamphlets to help taxpayers understand their tax obligations and the procedures for filing returns. These materials are available on the IRD’ s website and at service center. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) : A comprehensive list of FAQs on the IRD’ s website provides quick answers to general tax questions.  

(d) Workshops and seminars Taxpayer education programs: The IRD conducts workshops and seminars to educate taxpayers about their rights and obligations, recent changes in tax laws and best practices for tax compliance. Outreach programs: Targeted programs aimed at specific groups, such as financial institutions, to provide tailored tax information and support.

(a) Strategic Goals The Hungarian tax authorities are committed to establishing a standardized professional technical service platform, offering taxpayers comprehensive and professional tax information, continuously expanding service scope, enhancing service quality and efficiency, and effectively resolving tax - related issues.  

(b) Organizational Setup 

(i) Information Hotline. In accordance with current laws and regulations, tax authorities handle enquiries through both online and offline channels. After tax - related entities complete registration, the tax authority in charge will implement classified management through designated channels. The Taxpayer Service Contact Center operates under the jurisdiction of county tax and customs authorities, with 4 branches in the capital city of Budapest and 6 branches in each county, employing over 190 tax specialists.

(ii) Taxpayer Information Management Department. The Taxpayer Information Management Department has established four branches across three counties, each staffed with 15 employees. Following the merger of the Taxpayer Service Contact Center and the Taxpayer Information Management Department in July 2022, a national government service hotline (1819) was introduced, offering free telephone consultations to taxpayers within the districts of each county and city. Based on tax categories and tax - related nature, the dedicated line provides two separate channels for information enquiries and case processing, with all calls recorded and archived. The hotline service hours are from 8:30 AM to 4:00 PM from Monday to Thursday and from 8:30 AM to 1:30 PM on Friday.  

(c) Operational Mechanism and Identity Verification Support mechanisms include: a resource management mechanism to optimize human resource allocation, schedule working hours, and coordinate services efficiently; a voice analysis mechanism for performance management based on voice and data analytics to better standardize services and evaluate service quality; and a logout control mechanism to help properly plan and adjust staff rest periods. Taxpayers are required to submit a “TEL” application to obtain a four - digit PIN code. After identity verification through the government service hotline, they can proceed with their requested services. High - frequency consultation matters include: tax return amendments, tax information inquiries, and tax account management.  

(d) Organizational Characteristics and Future Outlook

Compared to similar hotlines of other institutions, the information hotline of taxpayer service contact center distinguishes itself through its unique tax - type - based (rather than matter - based) information classification system. In the future, Hungary’s tax authorities will leverage artificial intelligence (AI) and digital transformation to expand voice analysis capabilities, introduce smart customer service, online consultations, video guidance, and other services to comprehensively enhance intelligent electronic tax processing.

Mongolia' s tax authorities provide taxpayers with multiple channels for tax-related enquiries, including the unified hotline "1800-1288" ,as well as the tax authorities' official website and in-person taxpayer services for handling tax business.Additionally, Mongolia’s tax authorities actively leverage new media platforms, operating official accounts on Facebook, YouTube, and X, where tax personnel regularly respond to taxpayers' private messages and public enquiries.In 2025, Mongolia' s tax authorities continue to explore the application of AI in tax consultation by launching AI chatbot services on their official website and e-tax system to respond to taxpayer enquiries more efficiently.

In a bid to provide vital information and professional advisory services to taxpayers as well as respond swiftly to taxpayers’enquiries, the GRA has rolled out some platforms to ensure there is ease in handling taxpayer’s enquiries. These include a toll-free call line (+2204223641) for instant and cost-free nationwide assistance, an online enquiry forms available on its official website (www. gra. gm) , and an active presence on social media platforms—Facebook (@GambiaRevenue) , Instagram  (@gambiarevenue) , and TikTok (@gambiarevenue) — where taxpayers can send messages, ask questions, and receive updates. These diverse platforms reflect GRA’ s first approach, shifting from traditional methods to a digitally driven, multi-channel system that ensures taxpayer services are truly accessible to taxpayers anytime and anywhere.

●Interactive Voice Response (IVR) Options in Helpline System: The helpline system of the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (IRAS) presents taxpayers with IVR options to direct them to helpline officers trained in the respective tax fields.  ●Seamless Integration of IRAS Chatbot and Live Chat: The IRAS chatbot responds to simple enquiries round-the-clock. A broad array of transactions can be performed via the chatbot as well. Leveraging Large Language Model capability, chatbot designers progressively trained the chatbot and addressed knowledge gaps, resulting in a reduction of unanswered enquiries. With the seamless integration of the chatbot and live chat, users can seamlessly reach a live chat agent from the chatbot within the same platform. The agents can view prior chatbot transcripts, which eliminates the need for taxpayers to reiterate their enquiries. This enables taxpayers to get their enquiries quickly answered, improving their compliance.   

●Walk Me: IRAS implemented an onscreen guidance (named “Walk Me”) on the tax portal to direct taxpayers to the correct transactional services or relevant information at the point of need. This enables taxpayers to be better supported to complete their transactions.

Amid the ongoing evolution of global tax governance, the importance of establishing efficient communication channels between tax authorities and taxpayers has become increasingly evident. China’ s 12366 tax service hotline, continuously optimized and innovated with taxpayers’ needs as the focus, is gradually becoming an internationally influential taxpayer service brand, providing comprehensive and multi - level high - quality services for domestic and foreign taxpayers.   

(a) Overview of China’ s 12366 Tax Service Hotline  

(i) Overview: Established with Taxpayers’ Needs as the Focus

The 12366 tax service hotline is a dedicated phone service for taxpayers and payers, providing answers to enquiries regarding national tax laws, administrative regulations, tax procedures, social insurance premiums, and more. To establish the “12366 tax service hotline” brand, the State Taxation Administration of China has created a standardized national service logo for the 12366 hotline.

Figure 1: The Logo of 12366 Tax Service Hotline

(ii) Development Journey: Continuous Optimization in Line with the Trends of the Times In September 2001, the State Taxation Administration of China launched a hotline service using “12366” as the unified special service number, marking the shift of taxpayer services from traditional models toward digitalization and convenience. In September 2009, the State Taxation Administration of China proposed the construction of a nationally unified taxpayer service hotline and launched the 12366 Tax Service Hotline construction project. In September 2015, leveraging the 12366 hotline and supported by information technologies such as artificial intelligence, big data, and mobile internet, State Taxation Administration of China developed an interconnected taxpayer service platform integrating "hotline, online, and wireless" channels. In January 2016, the State Taxation Administration 12366 Shanghai (International) Tax Service Center was officially inaugurated, and in November of the same year, the China International Taxpayer Service Hotline was launched.  

In 2022, with the nationwide rollout of the Golden Tax Phase IV taxpayer - administration interaction, 12366 further upgraded its intelligent response and targeted taxpayers policy delivery functionalities based on previous service enhancements. It introduced new services such as visual Q&A and coordinated processing - inquiry, marking a significant advancement for 12366 services. In April 2024, building on the 12366 international taxpayer service hotline, a multi - language and multi - channel tax enquiry service system was launched. By 2025, multi - language intelligent services will be further upgraded, enhancing international service capabilities.  

(iii) Multifunctional Capabilities: Meeting Taxpayer Needs in All Aspects The 12366 tax service hotline offers taxpayers a diverse range of services designed to comprehensively meet taxpayer needs, to eliminate time and space constraints, and to ensure taxpayers can access the required tax information anytime, anywhere.  

●Providing tax policy and payment consultation services: Tax consultation is the most fundamental function of 12366. Tax officials address tax - related enquiries through publicly available service hotlines, online taxpayer service platforms, and other channels. For taxpayers who cannot consult in real time, they may leave a message, and 12366 will respond in a non - real - time manner.  

●Handling taxpayer service complaints: 12366 actively accepts complaints from taxpayers regarding tax authorities and their staff in the performance of taxpayer service duties. When taxpayers believe that they have not received standardized or professional taxpayer service, or that their legitimate rights and interests have been violated, they can file complaints through 12366. Complaint information will be promptly forwarded to the relevant departments for processing, ensuring the protection of taxpayers’ legitimate rights and interests and encouraging tax authorities to improve service quality.  

●Collecting feedback: 12366 extensively gathers taxpayer opinions and suggestions regarding tax administration, social insurance premiums collection, and non - tax revenue management under the jurisdiction of tax authorities. These feedbacks help tax authorities optimize policy formulation and service processes to better meet taxpayers’ needs.  

●Handling tax - related violation reports: 12366 accepts reports of tax - related violations, including those involving taxpayers and tax officials. This function can enhance tax supervision and ensure fairness in tax administration.  

(b) Operation Mode of 12366  

(i) Organizational Structure: Two - Tier Coordination for Efficient Operations Currently, the 12366 hotline operates under a two - tier service structure at both the national and provincial levels. The State Taxation Administration officially established the 12366 Beijing Taxpayer Service Center in 2015 and the 12366 Shanghai (International) Taxpayer Service Center in 2016. State Taxation Administration 12366 Shanghai (International) Tax Service Center in 2016. Provincial tax authorities have also set up local taxpayer service centers to manage their respective 12366 hotlines. This two - tier collaborative structure ensures both unified national service standards and flexible adjustments based on local conditions, guaranteeing service efficiency and effectiveness.  

(ii) System Integration: Technology - Enabled, Efficient Service

To ensure the efficient operation of its extensive call consultation services, 12366 has established a robust call system with functions including call handling, work order processing, comprehensive queries, quality monitoring, and statistical analysis. The call system at the national center also provides international service capabilities. Not only handling enquiries about both China’ s general tax policies and local tax policies, but also facilitating work order transfers between provincial 12366 systems. In 2024, the 12366 service handled a total of 122 million enquiries across all channels, providing taxpayers with a more convenient and efficient service experience.

Figure 2: Flow Chart of 12366 Tax Service Hotline Work

(iii) Standards and Specifications: Strict Management to Ensure Quality To improve the efficiency of the 12366 service, the State Taxation Administration of China has established the “Basic Workflow and Operational Standards for the 12366 Tax Service Hotline” . This standard comprehensively regulates hotline services, covering aspects such as the handling processes for various services, resolution of complex issues, on - site management and scheduling, staff training, quality assessment, tax policy knowledge repository development, IVR setup, language guidelines, and data analytics. To ensure the service quality of the 12366 hotline, the State Taxation Administration of China has established evaluation metrics. These metrics assess provincial 12366 centers quarterly on call connection rates, response accuracy, timely completion rates, and satisfaction levels. The administration also encourages local offices to allocate service resources, expand service channels, and enhance service efficiency to provide prompt and effective consultation services to taxpayers. Local hotline centers also implement measures such as selecting “service stars” and “top performers” , conducting regular quality monitoring, and linking performance to bonuses to strengthen service quality oversight and improve effectiveness.  

(iv) Knowledge Support: Nationally Unified, Practical, and Easy to Use To ensure consistent and accurate responses across all regions and consultation channels, the State Taxation Administration of China has developed a unified 12366 tax policy knowledge repository, which covers all tax - related matters. The knowledge base consists of two main components: knowledge issued by the State Taxation Administration and locally created knowledge. It offers various search methods including full - text search, partitioned database search and advanced search, along with auxiliary search features such as intelligent word segmentation, prompt - based searches, pinyin - based search, and directory tree navigation for relatively precise information retrieval. The tax policy knowledge repository is maintained by national and provincial tax authorities at different levels, with nearly 20,000 knowledge entries updated annually. It effectively standardizes response approaches and provides strong support for tax law certainty. 

(c) New Developments of the 12366 Hotline in the Digital and Global Era  

(i) Intelligent Consultation: Providing a New Experience in Smart Q&A To meet the taxpayer’ s growing demand for consultations, leveraging technologies such as AI and big data to automate and enhance consultation services has become essential for service upgrades. The 12366 hotline employs a progressive consultation model that prioritizes AI with human agent support as backup. This system effectively leverages AI to address taxpayers’ common enquiries by integrating various service resources. It offers multi - channel online intelligent services (including phone, web, WeChat, mobile app, etc.) through external taxpayer service portals, automating the resolution of numerous frequently asked questions. In 2024, intelligent consultation services across all channels handled 58.9877 million enquiries, with nearly half of taxpayers resolving their tax - related issues through intelligent consultation, effectively reducing waiting times and optimizing human resources.  

(ii) Global Expansion: Establishing a Multi - language and Multi - channel Consulting Services System To better meet the consultation needs of cross - border taxpayers, the 12366 hotline has continuously expanded its language options and service access channels, introducing English human - assisted service and voice announcement services in six languages: French, German, Portuguese, Spanish, Japanese and English. The multi - language, multi - channel tax consultation service system established in 2024 represents a major milestone in the internationalization of the 12366 tax service hotline. This system covers nine languages, including English, Japanese, Korean, French, German, Spanish, Russian, Arabic, and Portuguese, and will be upgraded in 2025 to provide multi - language, multi - channel intelligent services. It offers cross - border taxpayers more comprehensive, professional, and diverse service options and provides professional native language enquiry services for foreign taxpayers. China’ s 12366 tax service hotline is continuously adapting to the evolving trends in global tax governance. In the future, 12366 will explore the application of cutting - edge technologies such as big data and AI to intelligently analyze taxpayers’ consultation needs and accurately match them with relevant policies and solutions. The aim is to provide both domestic and international taxpayers with higher - quality, more efficient, and more convenient taxpayer services, establishing an international tax consultation service platform and playing an active role in fostering harmonious relations between taxpayers and the tax administration. 

In the future, tax-related enquiries will achieve comprehensive transformation through new technologies. First, AI and data analytics technologies will be leveraged to achieve full-channel coverage. Barriers between different enquiry channels such as taxpayer service halls, official websites, hotlines, online platforms, and social media will be removed, enabling intelligent integration and efficient operation of data across all channels to provide taxpayers with consistent, convenient, and seamless service experiences. Second, big data technology will be leveraged to dynamically update tax policy knowledge repository, monitor and analyze taxpayer enquiry trends in real time, and adjust policy interpretations. AI algorithms will be used to swiftly and accurately update knowledge databases, ensuring their timeliness, accuracy, and practicality. This establishes a solid knowledge foundation for both intelligent and human-assisted enquiry. Third, the establishment of a collaborative governance platform where tax authorities, other government agencies, industry associations, and professional taxpayer service providers can integrate resources and collaborate efficiently will be actively explored. In complex business scenarios, AI-assisted decision-making will be utilized to conduct specialized analysis, collectively providing taxpayers with professional, precise, and comprehensive tax-related enquiry services.