The number of tax audits in the Vitebsk region has decreased 20-fold over six years
Simultaneously with the quantitative decrease, the effectiveness of inspection activities has increased by almost 8 times. According to the results of 2020, on average, more than Br200 thousand of tax payments were additionally accrued to the budget as a result of one inspection.
In recent years, the focus in control activities has shifted to preventing offenses, and one of the main preventive tools remains desk audit. Based on the results of desk audits this year, 1.5 thousand notifications on the adjustment of tax liabilities were sent to taxpayers. They voluntarily paid an additional Br12 million to the budget. In addition, VAT subject to refund from the budget was reduced by more than Br17 million.
The inspectorates pay special attention to taxpayers' compliance with obligations for calculating, withholding, and transferring personal income tax amounts from disbursed income. After a desk audit and receiving a notification, 59 taxpayers voluntarily paid an additional Br483 thousand in personal income tax.
The work of the tax authorities is aimed at motivating taxpayers to voluntarily fulfill their tax obligations. In this regard, the Vitebsk region maintains a positive trend: today, about 99% of payments are made voluntarily, while in 2020 this figure was 98%.
Thanks to digital transformation and the implementation of information and analytical systems, the tax inspectorates of the Vitebsk region administer over 40,000 business entities, process about 12 million invoices annually, track transfer pricing objects, and analyze data on 460,000 individuals. Over 30,000 business entities and more than 100,000 citizens interact electronically with the tax authorities. Alongside electronic services for taxpayers, offline models of interaction with the tax service are also developing. Over the past 4 years, seven taxpayer service centers have opened in the Vitebsk region, operating on an extraterritorial basis. Since the beginning of 2021, over 40,000 clients have sought assistance at these centers.
Taxpayers positively assess the transformation of the department. According to the results of sociological surveys conducted, if in 2016 the satisfaction with the quality of work of the Vitebsk region inspectorates was 67.2%, then by the end of 2020, this figure reached 85.3% (80% on average across the country).
BELTA.