Skopje, 27 November 2024 (MIA) – Tax evasion is a challenge faced by all countries, both less developed and developed, which is why cooperation between the countries and exchange of information are crucial in combatting this issue, Finance Minister Gordana Dimitrieska-Kochoska said addressing the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes taking place in Paraguay.

According to the Ministry of Finance, Dimitrieska-Kochoska also underscored that support is needed for all countries.

“Tax evasion is present everywhere, even in developed countries, which is why support is needed for all, not just for countries like mine. When discussing tax evasion, it is not only about the legislation that will be adopted, much more important is the government’s commitment to succeed in the fight against it,” Dimitrieska-Kochoska said.

Highlighting that the country has been an OECD member since 2011, she emphasized that the continued high rates of economic tax evasion, corruption, the grey economy, and crime indicate that something is wrong in the approach.

“Over the five months since assuming office, I have used this time to analyze the situation and observed that it all starts with political will and tax administration. For instance, in 2022, our tax administration received 24 requests for information exchange, while we only sent five. This reflects the level of interest our administration has in this issue. Therefore, the new government’s priority is to fight corruption and crime, as this is the only way to increase our budget revenues. We have flat and very low tax rates, and a large grey economy, so we decided that it is time to focus on reducing the grey economy. In this regard, in order to collect revenues effectively, it is necessary to exchange information and use all the resources available to us,” Dimitrieska-Kochoska noted. According to her, both the tax and customs administrations are focused on revenue collection and tackling tax evasion.

Dimitrieska-Kochoska considers the exchange of information to be very important and believes it should be automatic, rather than upon request, especially in light of introduction of the global minimum tax.

She also took part in a panel discussion focused on the progress of implementing standards for the automatic exchange of information.

Photo: MIA archive and Ministry of Finance