What the tax behaviour ratings tell you

Businesses can view their public data and tax behaviour ratings.

Public data

• General data (legal address, principal activity, etc.);
• the data declared to the Estonian Tax and Customs Board (turnover, taxes paid, number of employees;
• information about tax arrears, unsubmitted declarations and prohibitions to engage in enterprise or business;
• the valid notifications and authorisations from the register of economic activities;
• the history of company;
• licences issued for excise warehouses or tax warehouses and customs authorisations.

Tax behaviour ratings

We give each business two tax behaviour ratings: the tax compliance rating and the tax behaviour adequacy rating.

• The tax compliance rating characterizes the timeliness and correctness of the performance of the obligations under the law.
  In this rating, we take into consideration corporate debt, the existence of offences, tax proceedings, background of the responsible person, and the submission of declarations. In addition, we compare the wages declared by a company with the average Estonian wages at the same positions.
• The tax behaviour adequacy rating draws attention to potential shortcomings and inconsistencies in the declaration of data, thereby enabling the users of the ratings service to improve their tax behaviour in good time.
  We take into account the correctness of data in the employment register and in tax returns (sales, purchases, employment, taxable expenses) as well as other observations made by the Estonian Tax and Customs Board.

Who do we rate? Whose public data are accessible in the service?
The following entities can view their tax behaviour ratings and public data: companies (public limited companies, branches of foreign companies, European economic interest groupings, European companies, European cooperative societies, European groupings of territorial cooperation, general partnerships, limited partnership, private limited companies, commercial associations) and sole proprietors registered as liable to value added tax.

Public data on sole proprietors not liable to VAT, non-profit organisations and foundations are accessible in the service, but they are not rated.

Legal persons in public law and local government authorities, notaries and bailiffs, apartment associations, building associations and non-residents cannot see their ratings and their public data are not displayed in the service.
 

Is the tax behaviour of companies that have not submitted any declarations rated?
Ratings are given to both companies liable to VAT and companies not liable to VAT, which are obliged to submit declarations (VAT return, form TSD, excise duty return, the report on intra-Community supply), data and reports for registers (employment register, security data, the stock records and reporting database). If a company has not complied with its obligation to submit declarations, it is considered as a failure to submit declarations and is so reflected in the ratings.

What do the colours and values mean?

The ratings and their indicators are given as a numerical value on a scale from 1 to 3.

Meanings of the ratings and colours:

How is the rating calculated?
The rating is based on the data a company has submitted to the Estonian Tax and Customs Board as well as the data that is available to the tax authority. The number displayed at the rating shows the value of the rating. For example, “1/3” means that the rating given to a company is “1” and the highest possible rating is “3”.
Both the tax compliance rating and the tax behaviour adequacy rating consist of six components. Every component is also given a value. The value of the rating is determined by the indicator of the lowest value.

If the value of the rating is “3” and the colour is green, does it mean that the Estonian Tax and Customs Board will never take contact?
Ratings are based on the data submitted by businesses. However, if, for example, one of your transaction partners is being audited and in the course of controls, some facts have been revealed that need to be clarified with other parties of transactions, the Estonian Tax and Customs Board may still contact you. Green colour (value “3”), ensures minimal probability of the tax authority getting in touch with you.

How should I proceed if a comment has been added to the rating?
If there are deficiencies in the underlying indicators, comments with instructions on how to improve the ratings are displayed next to the indicator.

If I follow the instructions in the comment and make necessary corrections, should I notify the Estonian Tax and Customs Board?
Ratings usually change automatically on the day following the amendments to data and no further notification is necessary. The service of ratings displays the date and time of the latest update. More information on updating the data can be found in the document:

Companies can share their ratings with other companies, sole proprietors and individuals, as well as access data shared by other companies. If a company wants, it can disclose its ratings to the public.

In the process of sharing your ratings, you grant a company or private person of your choice a permission to access your company’s ratings. By sharing the ratings with another company, the ratings will be available to the company’s legal representatives and their authorised representatives.

If a company wants, it can disclose its ratings to the public.

Once a company discloses its ratings, the ratings will be available to everyone through Find public data on the website of the Estonian Tax and Customs Board as well as in the e-services environment e-MTA (Ratings – Search data – Company search).

Ratings can be shared or disclosed only by the representatives of a company who have the access permission of the main user of the e-service. For example, by default, such a permission is included in the package of legal representative. Company’s representative can decide whether and with whom (other natural or legal persons) and for what period he/she shares the company’s ratings. They can also stop sharing and/or terminate a disclosure at any time.

If the ratings of a business partner are in order or there are some shortcomings (the rating is not in red colour), you can enter into a transaction with the partner with greater confidence. The colour red refers to significant deficiencies, in which case we recommend you check the background of the business partner more carefully.

Can I work with a business partner who has a rating that is red in colour?
The ETCB does not prohibit cooperation with these partners. It is important for you to know that transactions with companies marked with the colour red can lead to additional tax risks and that the background of the business partner needs to be checked more thoroughly. We recommend checking the background of the business partner.
The explanations marked with yellow are intended for a company itself and do not need to be used as a basis for choosing a business partner.

How can I see how the Estonian Tax and Customs Board views my business partner’s tax behaviour?
You can view the ratings of your business partner only if the business partner has disclosed his ratings or has shared access to his ratings with you. You can request access to business partner’s data. To do this, look up the transaction partner in the e-MTA by selecting Ratings – Search data – Company search, open business partner’s detail view and press Ask for permission.

Service users can subscribe to notifications on changes in the ratings. New notifications are displayed on the main page of the ratings service in the e-MTA. All notifications about changes in the ratings are displayed under the e-MTA menu item Notifications. By default settings, service users get notifications in the e-MTA when their ratings change.

It is also possible to receive alerts of new notifications to the e-mail address, given in your contact details (see in the e-MTA: Settings – Contact details). If you wish to receive notifications, make sure that you have subscribed to notifications (Notifications – Subscribe).

In order to subscribe to notifications of changes in the ratings of a company you are interested in, you need to add the company to a list. Information on changes in ratings is available only if the ratings are disclosed or have been shared with a certain company or person.

The service users can generate a tax behaviour certificate in PDF or Digidoc format. Certificates generated in Digidoc format receive a digital stamp of the Estonian Tax and Customs Board, which serves as a proof that the certificate was issued by the Estonian Tax and Customs Board and that the data is authentic and reliable. Certificates can be generated for the current month or the last 3, 6 or 12 months.

Certificates can be generated in the e-MTA under the menu item Ratings – Certificates of tax behaviour.

For a company of interest to you, you can generate a certificate in the e-MTA by selecting Ratings – Search company – Generate certificate.

To use the service of ratings, you need to have an access permission.

Packages of access permissions

The permission for using the service of ratings is included in the following packages of the e-MTA access permissions.
1. Package for legal person's representative contains the access permission named “Main user of the service of ratings”, which enables the use of the entire service.
2. Package for sole proprietor’s representative contains the access permission named “Main user of the service of ratings”, which enables the use of the entire service.
3. The accountant's package contains the access permission named "Using the service of ratings to view tax behaviour adequacy rating".
4. The package for natural person’s representative contains the access permission named "Main user of the service of ratings", which enables the use of the entire service.

Separate access permissions

It is also possible to grant a separate access permission for using the service of ratings.

Granting access permissions

Representatives of a company can receive access permissions from a person who has the package for legal person's representative or the package for sole proprietor's representative or the access permission of a representative for managing permissions.

To grant permissions in the e-MTA, select Settings – Access permissions – Access permissions of representatives.

To grant an access permission:
1. click on the button New access permission;
2. search for the person by code or user ID or select from favourites. The person searched is displayed in the table Selected persons.
3. click on the button Next;
4. on the page Other information insert the start date (and if required also the end date) of the access permission;
5. in the permissions section, select whether you want to grant a package of access permissions or a separate permission. Then insert the name of package or access permission into the name box, or the code of access permission into the code box. Click on the button Search.
6. from the results select the needed permission and click on the button Add.

Additional information about granting access permissions can be found on the page Granting and termination of access permissions.