At the event, we talked about debt management functions, their underlying legal context, organizational setup, and ways to improve them. Strengthening these functions has become particularly relevant as tax debts are increasing due to the Covid-19 crisis. “Considering global political instability, high inflation, energy crisis, post-covid challenges, and increased focus on monetary policy, the topic of tax debt management is extremely relevant. Stable and increased public revenues are crucial for every state's performance,” said Ms. Repanšek. We also discussed the role of IT support and the need for digitization of operational processes for debt collection.

An important part of this event was sharing experiences of how the Tax Administration of Kosovo changed its organizational approach toward tax debt management and witnessed great progress during recent years. Several important lessons were highlighted, including the role of senior management in pursuing debt collection reform efforts and the role of communication at each stage of the reform. “Internal and external communication is crucial. To this end, as a Director General, I have communicated my support for this reform constantly both in my media appearances and through letters sent from time to time to the internal staff,” said Ilir Murtezaj, Director of the Tax Administration of Kosovo.

We discussed the topic together with regional and international experts: Steffen Norman Hansen, CEF Associate Fellow, Jim Sorensen, International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) Regional Revenue Administration Advisor, Hans Kappen, Strategic Advisor for Recovery at the Tax and Customs Administration, the Netherlands, Ilir Murtezaj, Director General,  and Ukshin Rrecaj, Director of the Debt Collection/Procedures at the Tax Administration of Kosovo.

We are very grateful to the Tax Administration of Kosovo for their commitment and support in the development and delivery of this event. The event took place on October 25-27, 2022 in Pristina, Kosovo.