Civil society approves of Tax Inspectorate’s efforts to prevent and combat corruption

The civil society is appreciating the Main Tax Inspectorate’s efforts to implement measures aimed at preventing and combating corruption. “We have fruitfully cooperated with the management of the Main Tax Inspectorate as well as with the employees of this organization,” the representative of Transparency International Moldova, Efim Obreja said at the meeting of the working group that monitors the implementation of the Moldova’s Millennium Challenge Corporation Threshold Country Program, Info-Prim Neo reports. According to Efim Obreja, the manifested receptivity shows the fiscal agents’ readiness to enhance transparency in the activity of the Fiscal Inspectorate and improve the relations with the taxpayers, especially by reducing the human factor that is subjective in this relation. The cited source welcomed the creation of the Fiscal Fraud Prevention Division as part of the Main Tax Inspectorate. As a result of improved cooperation between this division and the law enforcement bodies, the materials collected during inspections have been sent to destination quicker, there was excluded the practice of not starting legal proceedings when there is not sufficient evidence in cases when the fiscal evasions exceed 500, 000 lei. Ten fiscal evasions valued at 82 million lei were discovered in 2007, as against 11 cases in the amount of over 180 million lei in the first two months of this year. The representative of Transparency International Moldova said that the State Main Fiscal Inspectorate lags behind in implementing the integrated information system and in working out the law on fiscal mediation, but stressed that these issues are on the agenda. The head of the State Main Fiscal Inspectorate, Tatiana Loghin said that the new system of working to which the Inspectorate shifted this February is more efficient as it enables to prevent fiscal frauds and offers greater possibilities of working with the taxpayers. She said that the electronic system for presenting income statements is being completed. A Phone Call Center for taxpayers will start working until this yearend. The Center will provide information about how to calculate and pay taxes. There were drawn up 3,000 questions-answers that will be included in the Center’s database. Moldova’s Millennium Challenge Corporation Threshold Country Program will be implemented during three years, starting with 2007. It envisions the strengthening of the legal system, improvement of the monitoring capacities of the civil society and mass media, prevention and combating of corruption in healthcare, fiscal administration, customs and police, etc. By now, the Government has allocated 140 million lei for implementing the measures stipulated din the Threshold Program. The Millennium Challenge Corporation contributed 24.7 million dollars.