SMER's former shadow finance minister Igor Šulaj was appointed by the Finance Ministry to be the new Slovak general director of the national Tax Directorate on July 28.
Nominated for the post by Finance Minister Ján Počiatek, Šulaj replaced former privatisation minister (1998-2002) Mária Machová, who has been the head of the tax authority since November 2002.
"It's necessary to change the structural organisation of the tax directorate and tax authorities," Šulaj told TASR shortly after taking office.
He also stressed that it was necessary to discover all the shortcomings in the tax system and to proceed uncompromisingly against the taxpayers who knowingly abuse the system.
Outgoing incumbent Machová cited a lack of political will on the part of the outgoing government as the reason for the failure to carry out tax administration reform, in addition to efforts to cut the number of tax authorities.