The information system of the Estonian Master Tariff moves to smartphone as first in Europe

As from 20.04.2017, Estonian Tax and Customs Board takes into use several new developments, which simplify business activities for companies engaged in international trade. The greatest among them is the information system of the Estonian Master Tariff System (EMTS), which has been made accessible in a smart device by Estonia as the first Member State in EU.

The information system of EMTS provides business operators with a simplified overview of the requirements to be complied with and taxes to be paid on exportation and importation of goods.

„For the business operator the major innovation is the EMTS smartphone app, which is the first in Europe. This app enables users to search through nearly 20 000 commodity codes to find the right one, doing this by means of a text search as well. In addition, the system will notify whether the goods have any special requirements and what taxes and duties apply,” explained Urmas Koidu, head of the Customs Department at Estonian Tax and Customs Board. The smartphone app is available here: https://apps.emta.ee/ett-mobile/et/

Besides, the information system itself has been complemented with a number of convenience services, for example it is possible to download data as a file and print it out. The option for automatic exchange via the x-road between EMTS and the systems owned by businesses will be further developed this year.

As a second new development it is now possible to declare cash electronically. If a person is going to bring more than €10 000 in cash over the border, a new cash declaration application will allow for the sum to be electronically declared via computer or smart phone even before reaching the border. In order to do so, log into the e-Tax/e-Customs portal and select the e-customs option. „Lodging a declaration will only take a few minutes and at the border merely saying your name will be enough,“ Koidu said.

The third innovation is the update of the customs control information system, which provides customers with a real-time overview of the documents drawn up during their controls, and officials have an electronic desktop where control tasks are displayed. The developer of the information system was Icefire and its completion was financed in the amount of € 500 000 by the European Regional Development Fund. The cash declaration application was developed by Cybernetica and financed with € 64 000 from the same fund. The update of the EMTS information system, which cost €1.9 million, was also developed by Cybernetica.