prijava
SARAJEVO, February 26 (FENA) - The end of the USAID Fiscal Sector Reform Project (FAR) was marked today in Sarajevo under the motto "Strengthening Fiscal Planning, Discipline and Transparency".
The past five years of the successful cooperation and work of USAID's Fiscal Sector Reform Project and public sector partners have produced results that will benefit both the private sector and institutions in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
On this occasion, Kent Larson, on behalf of the USAID Mission to BiH, emphasized that this project demonstrates how a more developed fiscal sector can make life easier for citizens in BiH.
“All citizens of the Federation of BiH now have the opportunity to check online whether their contributions have been paid. In Republika Srpska, companies now file their direct taxes online,” Larson singled out some of the achievements of this project.
As highlighted at the ceremony, the capacities of the Ministries of Finance of the Federation of BiH, Republika Srpska, Brčko District and the Sarajevo Canton to use fiscal models to reliably predict the results and effects of fiscal policy changes have been significantly enhanced through model development and training for their use. These models, combined with budget revenue forecasting models, allow them to measure and evaluate the impact of the proposed changes on taxpayers, beneficiaries of social benefits and public revenues. As a direct result of assistance from the USAID Fiscal Sector Reform Project, the Ministries of Finance now have the ability to independently use and modify these models.
FBiH Government has submitted the Proposal of Law on a Single Register of Fees and Taxes to the Parliament procedure in the beginning of the month.
With strong IT support, the FBiH Tax Administration has greatly improved, among other things, information systems for monitoring the non-declaration and payment of taxes and contributions from business entities.
Among the most important results of the FAR project is that all ten cantons in the FBiH have the most modern and sustainable information systems for cantonal budget planning, and data quality and consolidation have been significantly improved. In addition, 42 municipalities in the FBiH now have the latest treasury systems that have improved the transparency of spending of municipal public revenues.
USAID's FAR project began in September 2014 and officially ends in March this year. It is highlighted that USAID's work and technical assistance are continuing, and that USAID is currently in the advanced planning phase of the continuation of the fiscal assistance project, which is scheduled to begin in the second half of this year.
(FENA) A. B.
