STA, 27 November 2019 - Peter Jenko is taking over as the new boss of the Financial Administration (FURS) on Wednesday. One of his goals will be to change the tax procedure act so that the names of major tax evaders could be made public, he told the newspaper Delo.
Jenko, who is starting his five-year term at the helm of FURS, succeeding Jana Ahčin, confirmed for the paper that quite a few known taxpayers had formally moved to Dubai recently. Some, including the taxpayer paying the second largest income tax in the country, actually moved there.
"Of course we have detected this and we know about these cases ... We are auditing such cases," he said in an interview for Delo.
FURS will try to establish whether those individuals have indeed become United Arab Emirates residents or has the transfer of their residence been merely fictitious, he announced.
In some cases, they continue to live in Slovenia, have families here, pay housing costs and use their pay cards here, he said.
Jenko believes the tax procedure act should be changed to allow for disclosure of the names of dishonest taxpayers. Under the current legislation, this is considered confidential tax information.
Names can currently be revealed only exceptionally. In one such case, the public got to know the dealings of Rok Snežič, who became known as the doctor of tax evasion, after he pressed charges against two tax inspectors over negligence.
"If a taxpayer is presenting only his side of the story in the media, the law allows FURS to reveal tax data that are otherwise confidential.
"But I must say time has come to review the institute of tax confidentiality ... I think that would be a step towards greater public trust in the work of FURS."
Jenko, who had previously served as FURS deputy director general, said he had already discussed the matter with the Finance Ministry and that FURS would propose the necessary changes soon.
FURS is currently in good shape. Public finance revenue grew by 6.9% last year to EUR 16.6 billion, while tax due dropped by 4.9%.
However, Jenko was surprised to learn that the National Assembly had stripped FURS of EUR 6 million with an amendment to the budget bill. The money was intended for development, foremost digitalisation, he said.
If this does not change, there will only be enough money for maintenance, while some major development projects will be delayed, he said.
FURS was founded with a merger of the tax and customs administrations in August 2014.
At the end of 2018, it employed 3,629 people, of whom 2,808 were authorised officials - 430 inspectors, 537 financial counsellors, 159 investigators, 257 customs officers, 1,018 controlling officers and 407 debt collectors, shows FURS's annual report for 2018.
