ANALYSIS
PRO on Taxpayers’ Side
We are working intensively on
promoting voluntary tax compliance and taking a client-oriented
approach.
EM: How often does the PRO
identify over- or under-payment of taxes by SMEs vs. large
tax payers?
KM: PRO’s strengthening of the
services and assistance to taxpayers
was followed by dividing the taxpayers on Large, Medium and Small and
providing specialized PRO approach
designed according their needs and
behavior. Each assistance approach
defers as well as the PRO control
mechanisms do. So, even we cannot easily perform overall comparisons with no reservations, we can
confirm that the large taxpayers in
the country are respecting the rule
“playing games with taxes is not a
worthwhile investment”. The same
behavior can be recognized in a
respective portion of the small and
medium taxpayers as well.
EM: Can you provide some
insight into the level of effort
PRO inspectors invest in educating companies on the
proper application of tax laws?
KM: Apart from the free trainings
and consultative meetings that are
organized according to need with
representatives of certain type or
group of taxpayers (very often with
the chambers, associations or other
official representatives), every new
taxpayer after being registered in
the tax system must be visited by
a tax inspector or other tax representative and introduced to the
basic rules and obligations that must
be applied in regards to the tax
laws. This same rule for an educational visit applies even in cases
where the PRO discovers an unregistered business. The person running unregistered businesses are
given a certain period to comply
with the tax laws.
EM: What are some of the regulations that require the most
training or other corrective
action in companies?
KM: Assistance and training are
always necessary. Every company
has its own specifics and needs.
New companies have different
requirements, as do large, medium
and small business, different industries, and so on. Training and education is especially favorable when
Our mission is to provide high quality services for
taxpayers, streamlined tax procedures for timely and
accurate compliance with obligations and just and
efficient collection of taxes and other public levies.
laws are introduced or amended, to
ensure proper implementation by
both by taxpayers and PRO staff.
EM: In your opinion, would
binding and public tax opinions
improve tax predictability and
clarity for businesses operating
in Macedonia?
KM: For these questions, it is very
important to know the separate
roles that government agencies,
including PRO, have in the tax system and in creating tax policy.
Public tax opinions or recommendations – based on assessments
conducted by international organizations in PRO – may be part of
future actions to close gaps and
improve our services and tax procedures. It’s important to note that
in practice, we have been faced
with tax opinions that were influenced by certain business or industry interests that are not necessarily
favorable and have damaged or created weaknesses in the tax system.
That’s why the question of binding opinions should be approached
carefully. Policy dialogue with stakeholders always delivers value to
decision-making processes.
Spring 2016 Issue 49 7