Within the process of harmonizing the entire legislation and administrative procedures in the Republic of Croatia with European Union standards, a suitable capacities of state institutions and public administration bodies which will implement the above-mentioned regulations needs to be built. The demands for the modernization of the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Croatia's Tax Administration should be viewed in the same context. Its performance must be improved according to the EU benchmark (Fiscal Blueprints, 2005), which is the recommendation of the strategic development for tax administrations of the candidate countries, i.e. new European Union Member States.
Considering the extensiveness of the European benchmarks, but also the divergent practices of the new member states’ tax administration adjustments, the priorities need to be thoroughly analysed and the most important directions of future strategic activities need to be determined in developing and building the tax administration’s capacities. Based on this research, as the prerequisite for Tax Administration’s active participation in the process of harmonization with the EU requirements but also the examples of best practices in the world, a strategic document will need to be drafted, compatible with the general strategic development framework of the Republic of Croatia, including specific strategies, of which the strategic development determinants by the Ministry of Finance are especially relevant. The Project is similar to the good practice used by the World Bank for making its strategic documents. In choosing the associates for the project, their competence in the mentioned area has been greatly considered.
The main objectives of this project:
- Analysis and presentation of the strategic situation to be researched using the classic situation analyses relating to the evaluation of the external and internal environment as well as identifying the key stakeholders and their expectations relevant for capacity building and modernization of the Tax Administration’s activities.
- Analysis, determining and evaluation of the Tax Administration’s strategic development demands, which arise from the process of EU accession and the harmonization with the world’s best practice
- Identification of the key strategic priorities adjusted to the existing processes of capacity building and modernization of activities as well as the interests of the Tax Administration’s most important stakeholders.
- Formulating the strategy of the Tax Administration’s development, adjusted to the strategic documents of the Republic of Croatia and especially to the basic guidelines of the Croatian Ministry of Finance’s strategy and drafting the corresponding strategic document.