The revenue register as an enabler for policy reforms

The National Income Register is a long-standing project. A major milestone was reached last autumn, when the government's proposal was adopted after two consultation procedures and numerous amendments. The Income Information System Act entered into force in January 2018 and the register will be operational from the beginning of next year. Now, in the summer heat, preparations for the introduction of the system are at their fever pitch.

Although the register of incomes has not received quite the same publicity and coverage as the reform of the social and regional governments, it is still an important reform. From next year, the register will change the life of every wage and salary earner by making it more real-time and less bureaucratic. Employees will be able to view their own income data and for the first time have an up-to-date overview of their own pay and benefits data. The register will also automate and speed up government processes. In 2020, all citizens' earnings, pension and benefits data will be in one electronic database.

The introduction of the Incomes Register creates important opportunities for policy reforms in the future.

In the overall reform of social security, the role of the Incomes Register would be important. Speeding up the processing of benefits, keeping the income data on which benefits are based up to date and thus reducing the need for recovery would allow for a very different and administratively less burdensome social security system.

In the financial sector, the real-time movement of income data could, for example, make it easier for consumers to shop around and compare service providers. For example, based on the authorisation of the income earner or the information provided by the income register itself, a credit assessment could be carried out in the future with a few clicks of a button.

The monthly updating of statistics on earnings, employment and occupation would allow, for example, the anticipation of cyclical fluctuations on the basis of real-time payroll and employment data by industry. Businesses would be better able to adapt and anticipate their activities.

The Register of Incomes is one of the most important functions of the National Service Architecture and contributes to building a new and more real-time society. In the future, easier and faster communication between public authorities and others will allow the use of existing register data for the benefit of society and its actors. The BR does not create new rights of access to information, but it does create the possibility of easier access to information in the future. The Incomes Register will only act as an intermediary for the raw data it receives and will not decide on its use. It is a political decision to whom and for what purposes the data should be used.

Mira Tornberg

The author is an operational expert in the Income Register Unit at the Tax Administration.