IMF Technical Assistance Mission on Tax Administration Concluded Its Work on August 12

An IMF mission headed by Mr. Allan Jensen, FAD revenue administration advisor, and comprising Mr. David Kloeden, FAD senior economist, and Mr. Tony Lester, FAD panel expert, visited Moldova from July 30 to August 12, 2008.

The purpose of the mission was to take stock of progress with tax administration reform and provide advice on strategic issues related mainly to the modernization of structural organization, IT development, and work process design.

The mission met with the Minister of Finance, the Deputy Minister for Information Development, the management and staff of the State Tax Inspectorate, as well as members of the donor community.

The mission found the reform progress achieved during the last couple of years very impressive. In the mission’s view, the STI management team and its staff, supported by the Ministry of Finance, have demonstrated both readiness and the capability to manage and move forward a comprehensive reform.

The mission appreciates highly the authorities’ determination to implement the next reform phase, which would include a complete overhaul of the IT system and all tax administration processes. The aim is to make the tax administration more efficient and to also ease the compliance burden for Moldova’s taxpayers. The mission encourages the Government to disseminate to relevant donors the information in the final mission report.