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Azerbaijan's Taxes Ministry towards new achievments

27 July 2014 11:27 (UTC+04:00)
Azerbaijan's Taxes Ministry towards new achievments

By Aynur Jafarova

Recently, Azerbaijan's Taxes Ministry has been elected as a member of the Executive Board of the Intra-European Organization of Tax Administrations (IOTA). This is the second time it is becoming a member state in the last years.

The Taxes Ministry of Azerbaijan is the first administration among the tax administrations of the CIS countries which has been elected as a member of this organization.

Tax Advisor to the Taxes Minister, Alekper Mammadov who attended the meeting of the General Assembly of IOTA, told local press that re-election of Azerbaijan's Taxes Ministry to such an honorable organization is of great significance.

"This organization is one of the most important structures of the European Union's (EU) countries in the taxes field. Azerbaijan is a member of IOTA since 2002 and continues close cooperation with this organization. The Executive Board of this organization consists of influential EU countries. In this regard, election of Azerbaijan to the Executive Board of this organization is a sign of importance of our country, as well as its high appreciation of the long-term and fruitful cooperation with the organization," he said.

The 92nd meeting of the Executive Board of IOTA was held in Baku in May 2014. Azerbaijan became a member of the Executive Board on a par with the tax authorities of the Netherlands, Austria, Ireland, Spain, Finland, France, Czech Republic and Romania.

"This, in turn, is a clear indication that our country copes with the most difficult tasks in the leading structures of Europe," Mammadov added.

The "Azerbaijan 2020: A vision to the future" development concept has assigned the Taxes Ministry with important tasks.

"In this regard, the Ministry of Taxes has confirmed a plan of strategic development of the tax system for 2013-2020 and the strategy of development of the tax system for 2013-2020. These two important documents define the directions of the development of the tax bodies in the near future, and the main purposes of cooperation in the international arena," Mammadov stressed.

Mammadov went on to note that studying international experiences is successfully underway, and a department has been created under the Main Department of Tax Policy and Strategic Studies with an aim of systematizing the adaptation of national tax legislation to the international standards.

"Currently, the department is studying the tax systems of foreign countries and creating a review of the most important experiences of the countries. Besides, a library, which covers a broad information base in this area has been established," he added.

Also, the Taxes Ministry continues cooperation in the international arena.

"As a result of exchange of experience with Sweden, the idea of ​​a single services' center applied in this country has been widely used in the creation of centers to provide services to taxpayers. The Taxes Ministry's hotline activity is rebuilt in the process of cooperation with the Income Department of Turkey, and a bilateral SMS service was created. The electronic audit project which is important for the tax service has been implemented together with the customs and tax administration of the Netherlands. In addition, we are working on the project, according to which the simplified tax declaration will be sent by the hotline staff of the Taxes Ministry instead of taxpayers with ASAN imza," Mammadov noted.

Mammadov also said particular cooperation within the framework of the EU twinning instruments and TAIEX is of great importance.

The twinning project on supporting Azerbaijan's Taxes Ministry to establish a computer-based audit system was carried out in 2011-2013.

"Azerbaijan was elected a member of the global forum of information exchange and transparency in the tax area of OECD in February 2013. The experts of the Taxes Ministry are actively involved in the activities of these forums," he said.

Touching on the issue of avoidance of double taxation, the tax advisor noted Azerbaijan has signed agreements with a majority of countries in the EU, Southeast Asia, Middle East, Canada, Japan and members of the CIS to avoid double taxation.

"In general, the agreements on avoidance of double taxation have been signed with 48 countries, some 43 of them have already come in force," Mammadov concluded.

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