INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF PROFESSIONAL STUDIES

The research aimed to identify the concept, dimensions, and importance of professional specialization in green auditing within both auditing firms (external auditing) and tax authorities, and its impact on the efficiency and effectiveness of tax collection on the one hand, and state resources on the other. It also seeks to identify the human, technical, and administrative challenges hindering the promotion of this type of tax audit (green tax auditing). The research problem stems from this, posing several key questions: Is there a statistically significant relationship between professional specialization in green auditing and tax collection? Is there a statistically significant relationship between professional specialization and state resources? Are there (technical, human, and administrative) challenges to auditing environmental activities that affect tax collection and state resources? The overall objective of this research is to demonstrate the role of the professional specialization of external auditing in providing transparent and impartial reports to government agencies regarding companies' environmentally impactful activities. This aims to subject these companies to environmentally-oriented taxes, thereby impacting state resources. Based on this objective, the researchers gathered opinions from a sample of academics specializing in accounting and auditing at Iraqi universities, a sample of professionals working in external auditing firms, and employees of Iraqi tax authorities. This was achieved through a questionnaire distributed manually and electronically using Google Forms to a sample of (66) respondents. The questionnaire comprised three axes: the first concerned the relationship between the professional specialization of green auditing and tax collection; the second concerned the relationship between the professional specialization of green auditing and state resources; and the third addressed the challenges (technical, human, and administrative). The research yielded several key findings, the most important of which is that the key to the success of environmental taxation lies in its acceptance. Gaining this acceptance should be the core of environmental fiscal policy in any democratic society. Among the most important recommendations is the necessity for external auditors of environmental activities to understand the role that they perform their duties in relation to various relevant standards and assurance tools, working as part of a global network to facilitate the exchange of expertise at the operational, practical, and policy levels within the state.

Keywords: Professional specialization; Green Auditing; Green taxation; State resources