Hundreds of Ukrainians can now visit their public libraries to find assistance in completing and submitting their tax forms online. According to a PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) report, Ukraine’s tax burden (time to prepare and file taxes) totaled 192 hours, making it one of the highest in Eastern Europe. As a result, the Ukrainian government introduced an online filing system to not only lower tax-related burden, but to also increase the percentage of taxes collected each year.
Councilmen around Ukraine recognized the need to educate citizens on how to use the online filing system. In April of 2013, the Mala Viska Library and the State Tax Administration of Kirovohrad partnered on the pilot project “Filing Tax Reports without Borders ” to assist patrons in completing and submitting their tax forms online.
More than 20 tax administration officials, local business leaders, and librarians participated in a meeting to discuss the best approach to rollout a tax awareness campaign and promote the new e-filing services at the library. Other neighboring villages had the opportunity to participate via Skype and provide their feedback into the strategy.
The Tax Administration Service provided demonstrations of the new e-filing software installed at the library and Tetyanna Malashenko, director of the local library, provided an introduction to additional e-services available at the library.
Local council officials supported the initiative as an effective tool to improve the quality of taxpayer services in the region. Leonid Zhovtylo, councilmember and local entrepreneur said: “The community was in need of this type of training since they did not understand the online system. The library created the necessary conditions for conveniently filing tax reports in a short period of time.” Since the introduction of the electronic system, tax burden has fallen by 60%.
The Mala Viska Library is beneficiary of the IREX’s Bibliomist [4] Program. Bibliomist is a five-year program that helps Ukrainian libraries better serve their community through training and technology.