Webinar on the Use of VITARA for L&D/HR Professionals
On 4 March 2026, IOTA organised the first digital event of the year, the ‘Webinar on the Use of VITARA for L&D/HR Professionals,’ listed in the IOTA 2026 Work Programme Calendar, which brought together over 170 experts and practitioners from the IOTA membership and beyond to explore how digital learning solutions can enhance capacity building in tax administrations.
The digital event focused on presenting the latest developments and benefits of VITARA – Virtual Training to Advance Revenue Administration, a comprehensive suite of e-learning modules designed for tax officials based on globally recognised good practices from leading international organisations in tax administration. The webinar also offered practical insights from HR and Learning & Development (L&D) professionals on promoting and integrating VITARA into internal training programmes. Representatives of other VITARA partner organisations, CIAT, IMF, OECD and their member tax administrations took part in the Webinar at the invitation of IOTA.
The Webinar opened with an update session on VITARA developments by IOTA hosts, the International Taxation Expert Oksana Stepanenko and Strategy, Governance, and Institutional Development Manager Roman Bichevoy. In the first presentation, “VITARA – a Learning Partnership,” Anna O’Keefe and Tamás Kulcsár from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) highlighted the collaborative foundations of VITARA and its role in supporting tax administrations worldwide through accessible, high-quality online training content.
This was followed by a presentation on “VITARA Promotion for Tax Administrations,” delivered by Roman Bichevoy from the IOTA Secretariat. He outlined strategies to increase awareness and engagement within member administrations, emphasising the importance of internal communication and leadership support in driving participation. A Q&A session allowed participants to engage directly with the speakers, clarifying technical aspects and discussing practical implementation challenges.
The second part of the webinar focused on country perspectives and hands-on experience. In Presentation 3, “VITARA – Definitely not the Car, Certainly a Comprehensive e-Learning Mechanism,” Alexandra Diculescu from Romania shared practical examples of how VITARA modules complement national training efforts, highlighting the platform's flexibility and scalability.
The final presentation of the Webinar on “Integrating VITARA into IAPR Learning Ecosystem” was delivered by Panagiotis Ballas from Greece, who demonstrated how VITARA has been embedded into the broader learning architecture of the Independent Authority for Public Revenue (IAPR), showcasing concrete steps taken by HR and L&D teams to integrate online modules into structured development pathways.
The interactive debate and extended Q&A session that followed enabled participants to exchange experiences, raise practical questions, and reflect on common challenges in training, reskilling, and upskilling tax officials. All materials and presentations are now accessible online via the event's webpage, while the video recording from the Webinar will be made available soon on the same platform. The event was facilitated by Oksana Stepanenko and Roman Bichevoy from the IOTA Secretariat.
VITARA, which stands for Virtual Training to Advance Revenue Administration, is a collaborative initiative involving the Inter-American Centre of Tax Administrations (CIAT), the Intra-European Organisation of Tax Administrations (IOTA), the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Launched in 2020, VITARA aims to develop an effective, accessible, on-demand, free online curriculum covering revenue administrative topics. These introductory-level modules are tailored for busy professionals seeking to enhance their skills in tax administration.
