The Ministry of Finance improves the procedure for filing administrative protests by taxpayers

On November 25, the order of the Ministry of Finance No. 849 entered into force which regulates the issue and filing of claims by taxpayers and their processing by the SFS offices.

The main goal of the Ministry is to make the cooperation between the SFS and taxpayers as open and effective as possible. This was the main idea behind the above order. The order itself was prepared in a very open process – everyone could send her/his proposals to the draft document and have a direct influence on its contents.

What’s it about?

To improve the transparency and effectiveness of claims processing, the Ministry of Finance proposed to improve the procedure for the processing of taxpayers’ protests against the decisions of the SFS.

What should it deliver?

The new mechanism will increase the trust of taxpayers to the appeal protest filing procedure, reduce the number of court disputes and, accordingly, the costs of taxpayers and the state regarding the court proceedings. This should also improve the transparency of claims handling and ensure the proper protection of taxpayers’ rights.

“I think that the improved procedure for filing administrative protests by taxpayers is one of the key steps made to improve the cooperation between the SFS and taxpayers. This order shall improve the trust of taxpayers to the appeal claim procedure and improve its quality”, advisor to the Ministry of Finance Yana Bugrimova said.

Additional information:

The transparency of the process is ensured by the right of taxpayers:
• to apply for:
- an open process;
- presence of the media during the proceedings;
• to make photos and video or audio records during the proceedings;
• to have insight into the files of the tax check and administrative protest issued in electronic or written form, to copy them or to make extracts from them using technical means.

A controlling body of the lower level must send a controlling body of the upper level (which processes claims) all documents in electronic or written form regarding the respective claim. Thus, taxpayers won’t have to “search” for relevant materials anymore having to apply to various bodies.

Equally important is the implementation of additional tools meant to guarantee the unbiased claim processing:

- representatives of the Ministry of Finance, State Regulatory Agency and the Council of the Business Ombudsman now can participate in the proceedings as well;
- moreover, the opinion of these persons as wells as the reasons for ruling them down (should it be the case) must be mentioned in the decision on the claim.