Erich WaldeckerFederal Ministry of Finance, Austria

FTA Taxpayer Services Sub-group

Istanbul, 11-13 October 2006

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Austria (1)

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Austria (2)

• Capital: Vienna • Area: 83,858 sq. km• Population: 8.1 Mio• Density: 95 inhabitants per sq. km• Language: German• Currency: € (EURO)• Since 1 January 1995 member of the

European Union (EU)

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Austria (3)

• Austria is- a democratic republic- a federal State- consisting of 9 Provinces- GDP growth, real:* +2.5 % (2005)

+1.7% (2004)- Inflation rate:* +1.8 % (2005)

+1.9 % (2004)- Unemployment rate:* +4.1 % (2005)

+4.2 % (2004)

Source: Homepage of the Federal Ministry of Finance, Budget, “Budget at a Glance“

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Federal Ministry of Finance –Organisation Chart

Federal Ministry of Finance

Change Group State Secretary in the Federal MoF

Government Advisor forCapital Markets

Economic Policy and Financial

Markets

Directorate General III

Secretary General

Corporate Operationsand Services

Directorate General I

Budget and Public Finances

Directorate General II

Customs, International and

Organisational Tax Affairs

Directorate General IV

InformationTechnology

Directorate General V

Tax Policy and Tax Law

Directorate General VI

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Taxation - Basic Principles

• withholding tax system- wage tax- capital yield and interest tax

• flat rate- corporate tax: 25%- capital yield and interest tax: 25%

• progressive tax rate- income tax: 0% – 50%

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Statistics (1)

• Tax revenue 58,3 bil. € (2006)- VAT 19,4 bil. €- wage tax 17,7 bil. €- excise duty 5,4 bil. €- transaction tax 4,9 bil. €- corporate tax 3,8 bil. €- income tax 2,8 bil. €- capital yield tax 2,0 bil. €- other 2,3 bil. €

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Statistics (2)

• tax offices 41• civil servants 8.000

• custom offices 15• civil servants 2.000

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IT Directorate General –Organisation Chart

Information Technology

Directorate General V

IT and accounting for tax authorities and tax audits of large-scale enterprises

DIRECTORATE V/2

IT for human resources

DIRECTORATE V/6

Law, IT budget and documentations systems, IT and accounting for customs authorities

DIRECTORATE V/5

IT for Ministries of Justice, Social Affairs and Economics

DIRECTORATE V/4

IT and organisation of accounting and payment transactions

DIRECTORATE V/3

IT policy and office automation

DIRECTORATE V/1

IT audit and control

authority

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Virtual tax office on theinternet: FinanzOnline

• FinanzOnline is the Internet Front-end for all kinds of tax payers (employees, companies, tax advisors, municipalities)

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FinanzOnline Development

• as of 1998 FinanzOnline was made available for tax advisors only through an extranet solution

• starting 2003 all tax payers (employees, companies and municipalities) can access FinanzOnline via the Internet

• relaunch 2005

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• Complete integration in the Backoffice IT-systems of the tax offices

• Prerequisite: electronic act and electronic workflow

• User identification (UserID/PIN, electronic signature)

FinanzOnlineBasic Principles (1)

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• No special Client-Software necessary• Availability 7 x 24• Security certificate• FinanzOnline Hotline 0810 / 22 11 00

(Monday - Friday, 08:00 - 18:00)

FinanzOnlineBasic Principles (2)

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• online registration• electronic filing of tax returns and other

applications• electronic assessment notice• online inquiry to tax-files and tax-

accounts• online administration of personal data• instant online tax calculation (also

anonymous)

FinanzOnline features

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Benefits for the Users

• ANYTIME – ANYWHERE – AT NO COST• tax activities by ‚mouseclick‘• no specific software needed• paperless easy to use solution (incl. Online-Help,

Hotline)• instant tax calculation• reduced handling time• notifications delivery electronically into personal

DataBox (upon request)• online-inquiry of tax statements and account• getting money back faster (within 1 week on the

user‘s bank account)

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Benefits for the Authorities

• enhanced quality of service- online validity checks up front- only correctly completed tax returns are received- reduced error rate upon data entry compared to paper

based tax filing• higher quanities handled

- reduced handling times due to elimination of postal delivery and manual intervention

- highly automated solution with risk management modules (only potential ‚problem cases‘ are posted to the civil servant for further analysis)

- integrated into the civil servant‘s workflow (no media gap)

- synergy effects for personnel

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Benefits for the Authorities – Facts & Figures

• online tax returns and applications:- approx. 13.5 mio over the past 3 years - average handling time of 3 minutes/application or

statementsavings of 482 person years

• online inquiries:- approx. 150.000 per week- presumption that 1/3 of all inquiries would have been

by phone with a phone call lasting on average 2 minutes

savings of 186 person years• this man-power is now available to focus on other

areas

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FinanzOnline Statistics (1)(As of: 01/2003 – 07/2006)

• 1.100.000 Users

• 16,4 Mio. Tax returns/Applications• 5,7 Mio. DataBox-Deliveries

• Up to 1,2 Mio. Transactions/Day • Up to 20,0 Mio. Transactions/Month

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FinanzOnline Statistics (2)(as per: 30.06.2006)

103.

404

20.8

77

126.

01859

.078

142.

48970

.296

164.

380 77

.265

248.

203

85.2

02

312.

424

98.0

61

336.

270

111.

574

362.

154

117.

034

490.

618

125.

388

602.

811

135.

747

638.

489

141.

395

670.

757

146.

489

843.

275

157.

973

899.

819

166.

430

0

200.000

400.000

600.000

800.000

1.000.000

1.200.000

FinanzOnline Participants

Municipalities

Tax advisors

Companies

Employees

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FinanzOnline Statistics (3)(as per: 31.12.2005)

9,76% 25,65%60,19%64,45% 65,81%

69,72%71,31% 72,85% 73,10% 75,70%76,83% 77,89%78,38%

0

50.000

100.000

150.000

200.000

250.000

300.00001

/20

03

03/2

003

06/2

003

09/2

003

12/2

003

03/2

004

06/2

004

09/2

004

12/2

004

03/2

005

06/2

005

09/2

005

12/2

005

Monthly preliminary VAT return via FinanzOnline

Paper form FinanzOnline

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FinanzOnline Statistics (4)(as per: 30.6.2006)

47,16% 67,73%

38,91% 55,11%

50,34% 72,79%

0

100.000

200.000

300.000

400.000

500.000

600.000

700.000

800.000

VAT 2003 VAT 2004 Incometax 2003

Incometax 2004

Corporatetax 2003

Corporatetax 2004

Company tax returns via FinanzOnline

FinanzOnline

Paper form

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FinanzOnline Statistics (5)(as per: 30.6.2006)

7,19% 12,23%17,93%

22,85%

0

500.000

1.000.000

1.500.000

2.000.000

2.500.000

3.000.000

2002 2003 2004 2005

Employee Income Tax return via FinanzOnline

FinanzOnline

Paper form

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Ø 520.000 Transactions per weekend

Transaction distribution (monthly)

Time: 0 – 6

124.058 1,34%

Time: 6 – 12

3.521.301 38,04%

Time:12 – 18

3.724.212 40,23%

Time:18 – 24

1.888.237 20,40%

9.257.808 100,00%

FinanzOnline Statistics (5)

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Capgemini Survey (1)

http://www.capgemini.com/resources/news/online_public_services_are_increasingly_mature/

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Capgemini Survey (2)

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Capgemini Survey (3)

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Capgemini Survey (4)

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Thank you for your attention.erich.waldecker@bmf.gv.at