Supporting Bulgaria’s Efforts in Strengthening Tax Education
As tax administrations across Europe work to modernize services, strengthen transparency, and build deeper trust with citizens, tax education has emerged as a key tool for turning reforms into lived, everyday understanding. In this context, the CEF, in partnership with Bulgaria’s National Revenue Agency (NRA), hosted a workshop focused on advancing tax education and improving how tax administrations communicate with the public. The two-and-a-half-day event brought together colleagues from the NRA’s headquarters, regional offices, and Information Center to review current outreach practices, examine communication challenges, and identify practical approaches to making tax guidance clearer, more accessible, and and better aligned with taxpayers’ needs.
Building on last year’s edition delivered with Croatia’s Tax Administration in Zagreb, this workshop is part of the CEF’s ‘country deep dive’ series, which places institutional realities at the center of learning. Each year, a different host administration focuses on improving outreach practices and strengthening institutional capacities, drawing on the CEF’s consistent expertise and shared reform experience while adapting to local needs. In Sofia, participants mapped their current activities, reviewed examples from peer administrations, and examined how these practices could inform approaches tailored to Bulgaria’s context, particularly in engaging schools and youth, partnering with civil society, working with business groups, and connecting with local communities.
The event took place within the CEF’s long-standing commitment to supporting public institutions in strengthening their revenue systems. Through its broader Tax and Revenue Collection program, the CEF works with tax administrations and ministries of finance across its constituency to strengthen institutional capacities, deepen technical expertise, and support more effective and citizen-oriented public revenue systems. In this framework, tax education forms a distinct work stream where communication, trust, and service design converge to promote voluntary compliance and improve the overall revenue environment. The event in Sofia therefore contributed both to the NRA’s internal efforts and to the region’s shared goal of building more resilient, transparent, and citizen-focused tax systems.
Throughout the workshop, participants examined how tax administrations can translate technical provisions into guidance that is accessible, practical, and clearly demonstrates why taxes matter for crucial public services - from schools and healthcare to local infrastructure. Building on Bulgaria’s ongoing initiatives in tax education, participants explored how to expand outreach to young people, strengthen cooperation with educational institutions, increase engagement with professional bodies and local communities, and improve digital guidance so that information is easier to locate, use, and understand.
The workshop’s practical focus was reinforced through real case discussions and applied exercises led by Jaqueline J. Roos and Wivine W. L. Hoex from the Netherlands Tax Administration, together with CEF Associate Fellow Branimir Jovanović. Participants analyzed everyday communication challenges and tested concrete methods for simplifying messages, anticipating taxpayer needs, and explaining reforms in ways that encourage voluntary compliance. These sessions emphasized that modernizing processes, improving digital services, and simplifying administrative steps are most effective when supported by clear, consistent, and timely communication.
By the end of the workshop, participants had developed a set of outreach and communication proposal ideas ready for use and testing. The discussions highlighted the value of a tailored, context-aware approach to tax education that is grounded in institutional realities and strengthened through shared learning.
The workshop was supported by the Ministry of Finance of the Netherlands, the Ministry of Finance of the Slovak Republic, and Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs of Slovenia through Slovenia Aid.