"We want to significantly expand the service for citizens in the coming years," Sitzmann said. This will be made possible, for example, by appointment scheduling, call-back and video conferencing systems as well as the expansion of digital case processing. "We want to use this to improve and expand communication between citizens, tax advisors and companies in the region with the tax office," explained Chief Finance President Andrea Heck. In addition, the existing ELSTER service offering is to be significantly expanded. At so-called ELSTER-points, citizens can ask questions about ELSTER (such as authentication at ELSTER). "We want to break down inhibition thresholds and make it easier to get started at ELSTER," Sitzmann said.
The aim is for citizens to submit their tax returns electronically, thus providing the tax offices with an immediate basis for further electronic processing. This not only simplifies the work processes in the office and speeds up the procedure, but also saves resources in the long term. "The tax office has already shown several times in the past that it is particularly innovative. For example, at the end of last year it received a prize in the federal competition 'mobil gewinnt', an initiative for alternative, ecological transport concepts," Sitzmann reported.
in addition to Rottweil,Offenburg is one of two tax offices in the Freiburg administrative district and one of a total of five tax offices in the state that are testing additional possibilities of digitalisation. "Being one of five tax offices of the future is good news for us. It is thanks to the commitment and ideas of the employees here in Offenburg. We now want to show how tax administration can become more modern," said Vorsteher Klaus-Thomas Teufel.
Background "digital@bw"
Digitisation is a central focus of the state government's work. To this end, it has launched an investment offensive: around one billion euros will be invested in digitisation during this legislative period. With "digital@bw", the first state-wide and cross-departmental digitization strategy was presented in summer 2017, which was created in teamwork by all ministries. Over the next two years, more than 70 very specific projects with a volume of more than 300 million euros will be implemented to anchor Baden-Württemberg as a leading region for digital transformation in Europe. One of the focal points of "digital@bw" is Administration 4.0. With www.digital-bw.de, the state government has also launched a central online portal as a new showcase for digitalisation.