After several media published information that the Tax Administration would, in the process of determining apartment lending taxes, process personal data of citizens obtained in the population census and held by the Statistical Office of the Republic of Serbia, the Commissioner for Information of Public Importance and Personal Data Protection has initiated a supervision procedure over the implementation of the Law on Personal Data Protection in both of these institutions.

Starting from the premise that such processing of personal data would be contrary to the Law on Personal Data Protection, as well as to the Law on the Census of Population, Households and Dwellings, the Commissioner requested a written statement from both institutions.

Today, the Commissioner conducted an interview with the Director of the Tax Administration of the Republic of Serbia, Dragana Markovic, who assured him that the Administration did not request any personal data of citizens from the Statistical Office, and that an analysis of these data was not intended, or planned. The Director of Tax Administration decidedly confirmed that all possible actions of the Administration were going to be carried out in accordance with the laws, i.e. within the authorities that the Administration has under the Law on Tax Procedure and Tax Administration.

The Commissioner conducted a phone interview with Miladin Kovacevic, the Director of the Statistical Office of the Republic of Serbia who informed the Commissioner that no personal data was made available to the Tax Administration. He also stated that the Office handles the data obtained in the population census entirely in accordance with the Law on the Census of Population, Households and Dwellings, which expressly provides that such data may be used only for statistical purposes. The Director of the Statistical Office of the Republic of Serbia informed the Commissioner that the Office had already sent a denial of the news published in the media, but the media had not published it.

The directors of both institutions said that they would, acting at the request of the Commissioner, submit the written statements without delay.