TODAY.AZ / Business

Azerbaijan modernizes tax service

09 February 2015 [19:05] - TODAY.AZ

/By AzerNews/

By Nigar Orujova

Taxpayers in Azerbaijan can fulfill all obligations online, Fazil Mammadov, Taxes Minister, said at the fourth Tax Forum held in Baku on February 9.

The Tax Forum themed “Azerbaijani tax system: Realities and Prospects" was dedicated to the 15th anniversary of the establishment of the Taxes Ministry in Azerbaijan.

The Taxes Ministry provides Azerbaijani population with 59 types of electronic services, which is the widest range of e-services delivered by state agencies. There are 481 e-services of government agencies in Azerbaijan, 320 of them are integrated into the portal of "electronic government".

Today, the businessmen in Azerbaijan can fulfill all obligations on the Internet without visiting the tax authority, the minister said. "Filing of tax returns, fulfillment of tax obligations and all of the processes that connect users with the tax authority have been electronized. Approximately 90 percent of taxpayers impose tax returns in electronic form.”

A stable tax system that meets the objectives of planning long-term strategic development of the country has been created over 15 years since the Ministry's establishment.

"Tax Service of Azerbaijan has passed a thorough process of modernization since technological base of the tax system was established. The system has a wide range of technical capabilities. Today, the country's tax system offers taxpayers most of tax services used in the most advanced countries," the Minister said.

Innovative achievements have improved the VAT administration, he said.

"Some of its functions are application of the VAT deposit account, electronic tax invoices, integration with the banks in the real-time, application of remote transmission in the cash registers, provision of a system of electronic correspondence between the tax authorities and taxpayers, the application of the system of electronic payment of taxes. According to the World Bank, Azerbaijan is in the list of 12 leading countries in terms of the successful use of an electronic registration system of taxpayers," Mammadov added.

As a result of implemented measures, over the past 15 years the volume of taxes and other revenues of the state budget have increased 14 times, the revenue from non-oil sector, 14.4 times, and the proceeds from the regions, 14.8 times.

The Ministry will continue to improve the management of human resources, Mammadov said.

“The implementation of a new twinning project has been started for this purpose, which is carried out jointly with the tax administrations of the European Union, France and Spain,” he said.

The tax office is also interested in the promotion of non-cash payments in the country.

“Currently, the presence of about 6 million payment cards, installations of more than 82,000 POS-terminals in Azerbaijan provide a good basis for the spread of non-cash payments, and we will see the results of this work in the near future the minister,” he said.

United Nations support Azerbaijan's efforts to introduce "e-government", and the Taxes Ministry is one of the leading government agencies in this process, said Antonius Broek, Resident Coordinator and Resident Representative of the United Nations Development Programme in Azerbaijan.

Broek believes, introduction of electronic tax services will help diversify the economy and contributes to the development of private enterprise.

The economic strategy of Azerbaijan is confirmed based on the concept of "Azerbaijan 2020: a Look Into the Future", he noted. The new strategy aims to diversify the economy and reduce dependence on the oil sector.

He noted that at the moment the main priority is to resolve the problem of tax offenses related to tax evasion. "A forum dedicated to resolving this problem will be held in the near future," Broek added.

The reforms in the tax system contribute to reforms in other areas, he stressed

"Increased transparency will ensure the further development of the economy and financial system of the country," Broek assured.

The forum also gathered representatives of the Cabinet of Ministers, Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences, the European Union, the World Bank, the International Finance Corporation, the representatives of the tax authorities of Russia, Turkey, Lithuania and Kazakhstan and others.

URL: http://www.today.az/news/business/138657.html

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