E-government and tax policy: Trends and challenges (BI-HR/23-24-001)

Title: E-government and tax policy: Trends and challenges (BI-HR/23-24-001)

Head of the research group: doc. dr. Dejan Ravšelj ( from 1. 4. 2023 to 31. 5. 2025)

The speed of change and the need for digitalization determine the way public administration works because it becomes necessary to integrate technological innovations into public administration business processes to provide public services, such as digital tax compliance that meet the expectations of users – citizens and businesses. At the same time, digital solutions must be placed at the centre of administrative management because they represent new opportunities for public administration to review and simplify not only its work processes but also its purpose, which will result in greater customer satisfaction. The challenges of public administration in the Republic of Croatia are similar to those in the Republic of Slovenia, especially in reducing the share of public spending in the gross domestic product, digital transformation and the need for user-oriented public administration in order to achieve its sustainability. According to the results of the Digital Economy and Society Index (DESI) for 2021, in the Republic of Croatia, 52% of internet users use egovernment services, and in the Republic of Slovenia, 68%. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and accelerated digitalization, the number of users of e-government services, and thus e-tax administration, is growing. This achieves increasing interaction between public bodies and the public on the internet. Through digitalization, access to public services has improved as public administration and public institutions such as the tax administration have become more open and transparent to users. The results of the World Bank’s 2020 analysis indicate that the Republic of Croatia is in 23rd place and the Republic of Slovenia in 11th place among the 27 EU member states in terms of public administration efficiency. This additionally points out the problems and obstacles that the public administration, especially in the Republic of Croatia, must quickly and efficiently remove and offer new and more practical solutions, following the good practice of the Republic of Slovenia.

Duration (from/to):

1. 4. 2023 – 31. 5. 2025

Contracting Authority:

Slovenian Research and Innovation Agency

Project partner:

University of Rijeka, faculty of Tourism and Hospitality Management

Financing:

Project phases and their realization

The main goal of this project is to investigate and compare the degree of digitalization and efficiency of e-government in the Republic of Croatia and the Republic of Slovenia, with special emphasis on e-tax administration. In addition to the main goal of the project, the subgoals of the project are:

1. identify indicators and models for measuring e-government;
2. identify trends and challenges in establishing a more efficient e-government;
3. analyze the impact of the e-government maturity model on the efficiency of public administration in the Republic of Croatia and the Republic of Slovenia and compare it with EU countries;
4. analyze the impact of e-government on economic growth and social development in the Republic of Croatia and the Republic of Slovenia and compare them with EU countries.

According to the cooperation achieved so far, which resulted in a joint scientific article published in the Central European Public Administration Review (2021), project leaders (Hodzic and Ravselj)
proved that the model of e-government maturity positively and statistically significantly affects the efficiency and effectiveness of public administration. European Union member states. This also proves that EU member states within the public administration need to accelerate the implementation of new digital technologies such as blockchain, artificial intelligence, cloud computing, etc., with the aim of faster and simpler use of public services and thus would improve the process of fulfilling tax obligations.

The results of the joint research should provide answers to the main goal of the project and thus create a basis for achieving further research goals. The research is expected to answer the question of what are the main challenges, i.e. obstacles that both countries (the Republic of Croatia and Slovenia) face with the establishment of better e-government with special emphasis on e-tax administration and what are the current trends in the world achieving the same. This would follow the practice of the most developed country in the field of e-government and e-tax administration, namely Estonia. The results of the research can also be used in academic circles of higher education institutions and can help economic policymakers in choosing the optimal model for establishing an effective e-government model that will further result in greater user satisfaction. The research will deepen and strengthen the research portfolio of the Faculty of Tourism and Hospitality Management (Republic of Croatia) and the Faculty of Public Administration (Republic of Slovenia) through improving the work and cooperation of young researchers in finance, public finance and public administration in the University of Rijeka, Faculty of Management in Tourism and Hospitality Management and the University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Public Administration in Slovenia.

It is planned that the project will result in the publication of scientific papers in journals represented in relevant databases (Econlit, Scopus, WOS), mobility of researchers for joint visits and discussions on identifying common problems and solutions and participation in international conferences in Croatia and Slovenia.