A kick-off conference for the EU funded Twinning project of Montenegro and Spain (IPA 2014) „Support to Tax Administration“ was held on 1 March in the EU Info Centre in Podgorica. The project will be implemented by the International and Ibero-American Foundation for Administration and Public Policies (FIIAPP) with the Spanish Tax Administration and the Montenegrin Tax Administration (MTA) as twinning partners.
The project „Support to Tax Administration“ is the first Twinning project in the Tax Administration of Montenegro, and it will involve numerous stakeholders such as Ministry of Finance and Customs Administration, and business and taxpayers associations, as the main contact point for communication with taxpayers and promotion of voluntary tax compliance. The value of the project is 1.000.000,00 €, where the EU contribution is 900.000,00 €, and the co-financing of the Montenegrin government is 100.000,00 €.
The conference was attended by high representatives: the Head of EU Delegation to Montenegro, H.E. Aivo Orav, Ambassador of Spain, H.E. Miguel Fuertes Suarez, Director of FIIAPP, Mr. Pedro Flores, Head of Regional Office Madrid, Ms. Raquel Catala Polo.
The project leaders from the Spanish and Montenegrin administrations, Mr. Juan Jose Fernandez Sanchez, and Mr. Anđelko Jovanović, the Resident Twinning Advisor from Member State Jesus Gayare and Resident Twinning Advisor from Beneficiary Country Lidija Šećković, as well as the staff of the Montenegrin Tax and Customs Administration and representatives of the taxpayers` associations in Montenegro were also present in the kick off conference.
The project leaders from the Spanish and Montenegrin administrations presented the realisation plan for all four components:
– harmonisation of the legal framework in the field of taxes and excise;
- establishment of the efficient training programme for the MTA staff;
- preparation of the basis for automatic exchange of information and the establishment of the Central Liaison Office;
- detailed analysis of the existing IT capacities, and definition of requirements for interconnectivity and interoperability with the EU systems.