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Estonia Develops Electronic Tax Board

Jason Gorringe, Tax-news.com

02 October 2000

The Estonian Tax Board has the support of the European Commission's PHARE Program, which lends financial and technical cooperation to the countries of central and eastern Europe, in developing electronic communication between the Estonian tax authorities and taxpayers.

As of this month, all legal entities should be able to submit their tax returns and applications for tax refunds, ask for the necessary certificates and check their status in the tax registries, all via the Internet. Eelectronically submitted documents are considered to be of equal status to returns submitted on paper and the taxpayer is not subject to any supplementary obligations.

March 2000 saw the first stage of the project in respect of individual income tax implemented. During the project approximately 12,000 people submitted their tax returns electronically. The prerequisite for this was the possession of an Internet bank account in one of the two largest Estonian private banks who ensured the privacy of submitted data through the same systems that secure banking transactions carried out online.

The tax authorities believe that electronic communication will improve the quality of their service. To date, approximately 30,000 VAT and corporate tax returns are being submitted to the tax authorities monthly, and they are entered onto a database manually.

In addition to the support provided to the tax authorities, the PHARE programme has also supported the development of electronic systems of the Estonian State Treasury. This project has already been completed and has make it possible for people to follow the "live" movement of revenue and expenses of the State Budget online.

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