During the interruption, access to the e-Tax/e-Customs services and other X-Road services as usually offered by the MTA are suspended. Moreover, no other queries can be made to the tax department's information systems during that time. "This means that people cannot make debt inquiries or check their VAT registration number," says head of the MTA's services department, Triin Raaper.

According to Raaper, the interruption was planned in order to make the MTA online services more innovative, reliable and automated. At this stage of service development, MTA specialists are working on better solutions to manage users as well as to improve access permissions and authentication.

The MTA recommends that all users schedule operations related to the MTA information systems and databases only after the break. "For instance, the deadline for filing the Income and Social Tax Return is May 10. If someone didn't have the time to file the declaration before the interruption, then it's necessary to pay the taxes by May 10 and then present the declaration later", says Raaper.

While the MTA-related X-Road services are likely to be available again starting May 6, e-Tax/e-Customs services are to be fully restored by May 8.