Assessments were received for electronic declarations Based on the report on SMEs for 2012, of the European Commission for Enterprises and Industry, the tax administration is considered as an excellent example for Albania. This annual report helps to understand government policies’ current performance in support of small and medium enterprises. This report is built on the Small Business Act (SBA) indicators, launched by the European Commission.
In this report, the Albanian tax administration’s progress, through the successful implementation of electronic declaration forms, is assessed as a good practice that helps small and medium enterprises reduce the administrative burden and reduce costs and time. , creating a less voluminous paper system, reducing the need for contacts with the Tax Administration, and minimizing corruption. The result has been modern, comprehensive tax legislation, which is entirely in line with international best practices, enforcement powers in line with international best practices, and reducing the Tax Police’s role. On the other hand, the report states that it has made the tax administration through electronic tax services, strengthen the rule of law, increase transparency, and improve taxpayers’ services.
The results clearly show the objectives of the new Strategies developed by the Tax Administration in realizing its mission, one of which is to improve the services of taxpayers, support the voluntary compliance of legal tax obligations, and reduce the costs of taxpayers and the Tax Administration. Based on this report, the Tax Administration worked very well in 2011; 80% of tax returns are electronic. There are 25,000 regular electronic declarants and day, saving $ 1 million each year. (European Commission, 2012).
Interview results
From the interview I did with Mr. Jorgaq Zaka, with the function of tax inspector in the Vlora branch, it resulted that the Regional Directorate of Taxes has paid particular attention to electronic declarations by informing taxpayers through numerous training that he has conducted after Electronic representations are very useful in tax administration.
The employee who was interviewed was initially asked about the manual declaration process, and she said that initially, the taxpayer had to manually fill in the VAT FDP, SIG, and TAP or the small business payroll and send it to the bank to make the payment. The bank sent FDPs and small business payrolls to the Taxes, and the employees entered all the sections of the FDPs and payrolls one by one into the Tax Information System.
As for how many contacts the taxpayer had with the tax administration, she said that the references were numerous as everything was prepared and submitted manually.
Regarding whether there were complaints about delays during the manual submission of tax returns, she said that most taxpayers submitted tax returns in recent days, creating delays and queues during submissions, and usually, there were complaints. Regarding the question of whether we would compare the manual declaration against the electronic order, which is simpler for the control of tax returns, she said that the electronic word is more straightforward as there are fewer procedures for the management of tax returns, as there is the possibility of issuing of reports for verification of errors in statements. With the electronic declaration, the possibility of error is reduced, and this means that the inspectors who control the ideas take less action to penalize the subjects.
Regarding the procedures that have been significantly reduced with the implementation of electronic declarations, she said that the systems that have been reduced considerably are related to the issuance of FDPs of various taxes from banks and mainly the procedures related to payroll. Payrolls had to be submitted to the service sector, recorded in a register, and sent to be entered into the system, then had to be sorted by inspectors and checked. After the check, the list should be prepared for the insurance directorate, signed, and sealed one by one. Also, the employment and dismissal statements had to be submitted in due time to the secretary. All of the above have been eliminated by having the option of control only electronically.
Regarding the impact that electronic declarations have had on reviewing tax returns, he said that they have significantly reduced the time for reviewing them. The best example is the case I gave above, as many procedures have already been replaced simply by one click. Regarding whether taxpayers have had complaints about electronic declarations, he said that there had been complaints, especially from small businesses, since they started declaring in January this year. Most of them do not have economists. In the last days of the declarations, the protests are because the massive influx can block the official website of the GDT, and the electronic order is made with difficulty.
As for inspectors’ problems during the control of tax returns, he said that there are some problems, such as. Impossibility of sending payroll electronically to the insurance directorate, the impossibility of correcting the books of purchase and sale.
Finally, if the implementation of electronic declarations shows any tax administration effectiveness, she said that electronic representations had brought a lot of tax administration energy. It has eliminated many bureaucratic procedures, got more accurate declarations, and reduced tax evasion. There are many tax evasion cases in high values that have been detected through electronic indications of books of purchase and sale, affecting the increase of tax revenues.
