Lesya Karnaukh told how the State Tax Service is changing its philosophy of work within framework of the European tax integration

The key emphasis on which the State Tax Service is focused is transition from the fiscal pressure to providing quality service and preventing violations. This is what corresponds to the European approach. This was stated by acting Head of the State Tax Service Lesya Karnaukh during the international forum “Bridge to Europe: Ukraine’s Tax Euro-Integration Path”. 

Forum, organized jointly with the EU4PFM partners, brought together a big number of leading Ukrainian and international officials for a strategic dialogue regarding the key steps, challenges and practical solutions.

“Tax Euro-Integration is not limited to legislative changes. We must simultaneously change our approaches and philosophy of work. This path in the wartime is extremely difficult, but irreversible. Despite all the challenges, interests of every taxpayer should be the basis of all changes. This is not about abstract things, but about specific people who fill the state budget. Modernization of the Tax Service is about trust, without which no changes work. This is confirmed by the experience shared by my colleagues from the Tax Services of Lithuania and Latvia” – Lesya Karnaukh emphasized. 

She noted that the tax authority has already moved away from the principle of audit for the audit’s sake. Number of actual audits has already been reduced by 27%. State Tax Service focuses on the risk-based approach, analytics, digital tools and voluntary compliance and concentrates exclusively on the real risks.

One more important aspect is digital transformation. 

“We have already introduced modern and high-quality digital tools – e-Audit, TAX Control chatbot, dashboard that analyzes the state budget. Priority for this year is modernization of the Electronic cabinet. All digital services should not only be introduced, but also, first of all, be convenient and high-quality for the taxpayers” – she added. 

Another key task is to implement the CRM system as the basis for strategic management of the State Tax Service. This will allow us to predict risks, implement preventive measures and minimize interference in activities of the bona fide taxpayers. 

State Tax Service is also working on the integration of IT systems into the European platforms, implementing systemic anti-corruption measures. 

“Transformation of the Tax Service is a systemic change in approaches. And we are grateful to everyone who is involved in this process, including our international partners” – Lesya Karnaukh outlined.