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Handling the Tax Affairs Of Handling the Tax Affairs of IOTA Report for Tax Administrations IOTA Report for Tax Administrations – Handling the Tax Affairs of Minorities HANDLING THE TAX AFFAIRS OF MINORITIES IOTA Report for Tax Administrations Intra-European Organisation of Tax Administrations (IOTA) Budapest 2012 IOTA Report for Tax Administrations – Handling the Tax Affairs of Minorities PREFACE The interest of IOTA Membership in the topic of tax treatment of minority groups was triggered by the undoubted increase in mobility across Europe, resulting in citizens from many countries migrating, either permanently or temporarily, to other countries seeking work, education and experience – communicating to migrants is inhibited by language and often by culture and so new communication techniques are required to help them settle into their new home environment and understand their rights and responsibilities. There are also other minority groups that often do not fit within the standard communication and taxpayer service processes, groups that cannot take advantage of the services offered, through lack of mobility, lack of IT skills, age, ill health, imprisonment, etc. Channel strategies usually aim for simplification and cost effectiveness of communication for the majority of citizens – but how do we reach those who do not fit into the standard pattern? The IOTA Area Group “Taxpayer Education and Services” recognised some time ago that there was considerable interest in how taxpayer services are delivered to minority groups in society. In February 2009, the Area Group established a Task Team to gather information on how minorities are handled within IOTA tax administrations, with the aim of producing a report and, thus, sharing new ideas and good practice. Twenty five IOTA Member tax administrations responded to a questionnaire on the subject and this report aims at examining what countries mean by “minorities”, legal requirements and regulations relating to communication and services for minorities, channel strategies, specific policies and procedures implemented in relation to different target groups, e.g. immigrants, disabled, IT-illiterate, etc., summarises the findings from the responses received and makes recommendations on possible common solutions and ways to improve tax treatment of minorities. We would like to thank all the participants who took part in completing the questionnaire, both for the time they gave to collect valuable information and for the openness with which they shared their practice. We would also like to thank the Task Team, in particular, Mr. Carlos Six from Belgium, Ms. Jane Christensen from Denmark, Ms. Tünde Égerházi from Hungary, Ms. Lise Halvorsen from Norway, Mr. Kay Kojer from Sweden and Ms. Victoria Goverdovskaya from Ukraine, for their help, input and advice throughout the preparation of this report. The views expressed in this report are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of IOTA. Budapest, 2012 Intra-European Organisation of Tax Administrations IOTA Report for Tax Administrations – Handling the Tax Affairs of Minorities TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. Introduction.................................................................................5 2. The Scope of Minorities ...................................................................6 2.1. How to define a minority? ................................................................ 6 2.2. The Constitution and the fundamental rights ......................................... 6 2.2.1. The Constitution ........................................................6 2.2.2. Freedom of the individual and physical freedom..................6 2.2.3. Right to equality ........................................................7 2.3. What about minorities?.................................................................... 7 2.4. Scope of minorities in this report ....................................................... 8 2.4.1. Problems with the official languages ................................8 2.4.2. Different ethnical background........................................9 2.4.3. Disabilities ............................................................. 10 2.4.4. Cross-border workers................................................. 11 2.4.5. Computer illiteracy................................................... 11 3. Legislation Relating to Communication and Services for Minorities ............. 14 3.1. EU and UN legal instruments ............................................................ 14 3.1.1. Protection of rights of people with disabilities in EU ........... 14 3.1.2. UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities...... 15 3.2. National legal acts ........................................................................ 15 3.3. National legal acts regulating national minorities and national minority languages ........................................................................................... 18 3.3.1. National minorities ................................................... 18 3.3.2. National minority languages ........................................ 19 3.3.3. International Labour Organization ................................. 20 3.4. Agreements between neighboring countries on cross-border workers ........... 20 4. Strategies and Measures about Communication and Services towards Minorities .............................................................................................. 21 4.1. Communication strategy in general .................................................... 21 4.2. Communication strategies in IOTA tax administrations ............................ 21 5. Specific Policies and Targeted Actions to Communicate to and/or Assist Certain Categories of Minority Groups ............................................................... 24 5.1. Taxpayers who have problems with understanding the official language(s) .... 26 5.1.1. Introduction............................................................ 26 5.1.2. Countries providing information on national tax websites in different languages................................................... 26 5.1.3. Countries developing forms and documents in different languages............................................................... 28 IOTA Report for Tax Administrations – Handling the Tax Affairs of Minorities 5.1.4. Countries using contact centres and call centres to deliver services to taxpayers who do not speak the official language(s) ........................................................................... 29 5.2. Taxpayers with a different ethical background ...................................... 29 5.3. Disabled people (blind and partially sighted, deaf or hard of hearing, housebound) ....................................................................................... 31 5.3.1. Accessibility to the tax administrations’ websites .............. 31 5.3.2. Deaf, hard of hearing or have speech impairment .............. 32 5.3.3. Blind or partially sighted ............................................ 33 5.3.4. Home visiting .......................................................... 33 5.4. People of extreme age and those who are residents of care homes or in a long term hospital/hospice care ..................................................................... 34 5.5. Cross-border workers ..................................................................... 34 5.6. Prisoners .................................................................................... 35 5.7. IT illiterate people ........................................................................ 36 6. Specific Tools Tax Administrations Use to Communicate with Minority Groups 37 6.1. Translated materials, brochures etc. (languages) ................................... 37 6.2. Translated websites (languages, disabilities) ........................................ 37 6.3. Group meetings / education............................................................. 37 6.4. Field working............................................................................... 37 6.5. Service centres / contact points ........................................................ 37 6.6. Direct communication (letters, mails, etc.) .......................................... 38 7. Ways and Methods of Identifying Persons Belonging to Minority Groups........ 40 7.1. Approaches for identifying minority groups .......................................... 40 7.2. Examples of country approaches........................................................ 40 8. Organisational Policies regarding Service Provision to Minority Groups......... 42 9. Ongoing and Future Initiatives to Assist Minorities ................................. 44 9.1. Websites and translations................................................................ 44 9.2. e-Services ................................................................................... 44 9.3. Accessibility to premises ................................................................. 45 10. The Way Forward… ...................................................................... 47 10.1. Social media ................................................................................ 47 10.2. Apps and electronic signatures.......................................................... 47 11. Conclusions................................................................................ 50 12. References and Links to Annexes...................................................... 52 12.1. References .................................................................................
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