Three taxpayer service centers are planned to be opened in 2020 in the Vitebsk region
By the end of the five-year plan, a new form of interaction will be introduced in all major cities and regions where the largest number of taxpayers in the Vitebsk region operate. It is planned to consider the issue of opening such centers in rural areas as well, Valery Lobatsevich added.
On the eve of the New Year, another, the fourth in a row, center was opened at the inspectorate for the Zheleznodorozhny district of Vitebsk, which also serves taxpayers of Beshenkovichi, Liozno and Gorodok districts. The center has created a convenient and easy-to-use navigation system that allows for quick orientation in choosing services, an electronic queue is in operation, and a children's play area is organized. Taxpayers will be able to receive about 60 tax services here and evaluate their quality using a special terminal.
The new center is located near the Vitebsk railway station, which potentially makes it in demand among non-resident residents. This became possible thanks to the extraterritorial principle of operation of such centers, introduced this year, when any Belarusian, regardless of their place of registration, can apply for a service, for consultation and administrative procedures.
"The tax department is transforming into a client-oriented service with high-quality taxpayer service, thereby motivating them to conscientiously, voluntarily and timely fulfill their tax obligations," Valery Lobatsevich emphasized. Today, taxpayers spend significantly less time on this. About 93% of them positively assess the work of the regional tax service, and in recent years, this indicator has consistently shown positive dynamics.
In the Vitebsk region, the level of voluntary tax payment exceeds 95%, and the debt of business entities by the end of 2019 will not exceed 0.7% of the total amount of tax revenues. This is achieved against the backdrop of a significant reduction in inspection activities without loss of revenue to the budget. "If quite recently we conducted more than a thousand inspections per year, then by the end of 2019 their number will not exceed 100 events, while we focus on applying other mechanisms, such as desk audits, to help legal entities and individuals settle with the budget, avoiding administrative impact," explained Valery Lobatsevich.
According to preliminary data, in 2019, the growth rate of own tax revenues of the local budget of the Vitebsk region will be about 106%. This result was achieved despite the decrease in revenues from the region's oil refining complex, which, for objective internal and external reasons, could not fully realize its tax potential. The losses were compensated by increasing the efficiency of other sectors of the economy, activating small and medium-sized businesses, as well as improving the forms and methods of work of the tax authority aimed at motivating taxpayers to voluntarily fulfill their tax obligations, noted Valery Lobatsevich.
In the Vitebsk region, about 90% of taxpayers interact electronically with tax authorities. More than 100 thousand individuals are connected to the "Personal Account" service, through which they can receive notifications for property tax payments, pay taxes via internet banking, and submit income tax returns electronically.