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The Government of the Republic of Serbia

In the service of citizens

Programme of modernisation of tax administration drawing to an end

Belgrade, 20 April 2007

Coordinator of the Serbian Ministry of Finance's Tax Administration Dejan Stojanovic said today that a four-year programme of modernisation of this institution, financed by the European Agency for Reconstruction (EAR) with €12 million, will be completed in June.

Stojanovic explained at a press conference that this programme includes purchase of IT equipment, software and staff training.

He said that since 2005, more than 12,000 workers have undergone training, of whom almost 2,500 have been trained in the field of informatics.

As part of the programme, a call centre has been set up and electronic filing of income tax returns enabled, as well as downloading of free tax forms from the website.

According to Stojanovic, within one year all tax payers will be able to submit tax returns electronically.

Stojanovic specified that IT equipment, including several computers, servers, notebook computers and printers, has been secured for the Computer Centre, the centre for large scale tax payers, four regional centres, 163 local offices and two printing presses of the Tax Administration.

Head of the European Agency for Reconstruction's (EAR) office in Serbia Daniel Giuglaris said that the programme for improving the work of the Tax Administration included the modernisation of two most important segments of that institution – IT equipment and training of employees, which has allowed the administration to implement permanent tax reforms.

Giuglaris pointed to the fact that help given to the Tax Administration is part of the support granted to Serbia on the way to the EU. He added that the EAR invested €45 million in the sector of public finance, in which the most important projects were founding the treasury, a system of internal finance control, and drafting of a strategy for the information system.

He recalled that the project was begun in August 2003 and should be finished in June this year; meanwhile IT equipment for this institution was secured, as well as software and employee training.

According to Giuglaris, tax proceeds are the main source of income for a state which helps to improve social equality, and tax collection must be one of the pillars of economic stability in Serbia, especially in the process of joining the EU.

Competitiveness in economy depends to a large degree on the structure and efficiency of the tax system, explained Giulgaris and added that the main emphasis in the partnership between the EAR and the Tax Administration was on employee training and transfer of know-how, which was done during the past four years.