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Quality of public finances
Combating fraud
The battle against fraud is a battle in favour of
justice and fair competition. A sustained battle against tax evasion and
social security fraud is also the best remedy against increases in tax
and social contributions. In the past few years, the battle against
fraud has not been just a balancing item but rather an effective
approach accompanied by stated revenue figures.
Under the government agreement, it was decided
from the start to adopt a resolute approach to combating fraud. During
the previous legislative term, a State Secretary for the Coordination of
Fraud Control was appointed for the first time. In order to carry out
this coordination task, he can enlist the services of two new bodies set
up since then: the College and the Ministerial Committee for the Control
of Tax Evasion and Social Security Fraud.
The College is made of up senior officials from
the social, fiscal, economic, police and judicial services involved in
combating fraud. The composition of the College ensures that it can rely
on the expertise and practical knowledge of the elite in the
administration, police and judiciary.
The second body is the Ministerial Committee for
the Control of Tax Evasion and Social Security Fraud. This comprises the
Prime Minister, the State Secretary and members of the government who
are involved in combating fraud on account of their particular
responsibilities. It is and remains the duty of every minister to combat
fraud in his own area of responsibility.
In each of its first two years of operation, the
College drew up an action plan comprising over 100 projects and action
points. These plans are based on data exchange as a central basic
condition for taking effective action against fraud. The action points
cover the entire chain of the battle against fraud, ranging from better
prevention and detection to a more effective policy on prosecution and
sanctions, and including tighter controls.
Each action plan aims at maximum commitment on
the part of the players concerned and, if necessary, modification of the
existing structures. That is all achieved without setting up any new
institutions. Apart from the action plans, other specific projects have
been launched, whether or not involving study groups.
In this way, various recommendations by the
parliamentary commission of inquiry into major cases of tax evasion have
been implemented by the creation of a working group of experts
comprising members of the judiciary, the tax authority and the police.
Recently, Parliament approved the proposals for
laws on banking secrecy and court settlements. These enable both the tax
authority and the judiciary to take firm action against serious forms of
tax evasion.
The outgoing government had undertaken to achieve
a structural figure of €1 billion by combating fraud by the end of the
parliament. The figures produced in preparing the 2011 budget show that
this target can easily be achieved.
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TABLE 29
Result of fraud
control 2009-2011 |
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In € million |
2009 |
2010 |
2011 |
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Result of fraud control
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422 |
621 |
1.006 |
In order to consolidate or even improve these
results in the future, a vision statement was drafted in collaboration
with the federal authorities. That text comprises 12 elements for
continuing the battle against fraud, approved by the College for the
Control of Tax Evasion and Social Security Fraud.
Good and effective governance
Since 2008, the government has made a special
effort to continue reinforcing the effectiveness and efficiency of the
federal administration. The fact that 40 % of federal officials are due
to retire in the period 2008-2018 provides a favourable framework in
that regard. From 2008 onwards, the various federal administration
entities have adopted a selective approach to replacing the civil
servants who have retired (or those leaving the government for other
reasons). Table 30 shows the trend in the number of full-time
equivalents (FTE) in the federal administrative civil service and the
Special Corps.
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TABLE
30(1)
Federal government workforce |
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In FTE |
2008 |
2009 |
2010 |
2011 |
Change 2008-2011 |
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in FTE |
in % |
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Federal level personnel |
141.728 |
138.767 |
137.079 |
133.972 |
-7.756 |
-5,47% |
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Source:
http://www.Pdata.be |
In 2009, the government saved around € 60 million
(0.91 %) on staff appropriations via a policy of selective replacements,
and it also set a ceiling of 98 % on the use of staff appropriations. In
2010, a saving of 0.7 % was achieved on staff appropriations in addition
to an extra reduction of € 100 million (± 1.55 %). Specifically in the
case of public social security institutions, the government cut the
overall resources by € 10 million in 2010. In 2011, the government will
save a further 0.7 % on staff appropriations, and the plans provide for
these economy measures to continue in 2012 and 2013.
The size of the federal administration’s
workforce was cut by 5.47 % during the period 2008- 2011, a large part
of that percentage being due to staff cuts in the army. The measures
taken led to a reduction in the workforce without compromising the
quality of the service to society.
(1) Federal
administrative civil service: Federal Public Services (FPS), Public Planning
Services (PPS), Scientific Institutions (SI), Public Interest Bodies (PIB),
Public social security institutions (PSSI) and Special Corps : Army,
Judiciary, Council of State, Federal Police and Tax Inspectorate.”
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