The Financial College trains future tax and customs officials whose mission is to ensure that Estonia's tax system functions fairly and transparently and that the business environment remains honest. The studies are practical and closely connected to real working life. Students acquire knowledge on how to prevent tax fraud, detect smuggling, and advise individuals on lawful and responsible tax behaviour.
The curriculum includes law, economics, risk assessment, and the development of analytical thinking. A strong emphasis is placed on cooperation with the Estonian Tax and Customs Board to provide students with solid professional preparation. Graduates work as specialists in the Tax and Customs Board and other financial sector institutions, helping to maintain the proper functioning of the state and an honest economic environment.
The studies are conducted in Estonian and are open only to Estonian citizens.
Financial College Key research directions
The research focuses on methods and approaches to identify, model and quantify shadow economy and the extent of tax gap, i.e. the loss of tax revenue. For example, based on the report "Methodologies for estimating tax gap: Current state and future challenges"(2022), published in cooperation with the Tax and Customs Board, a machine learning-based corporate tax gap assessment methodology was developed in the period 2023–2025. In 2025–2026, the methodology for assessing the VAT gap will be further developed. The implementation of the methodology allows to estimate the volume of lost tax revenues and supports the selection of audit targets.
We analyse the socio-economic, regulatory and behavioural factors that influence tax behaviour and compliance. For example, the responsiveness of fuel retail sales volume in Estonia with respect to price differentials with Latvia has been modelled in order to understand the behaviour of fuel consumers in the context of excise duty policy.
This research direction explores the hidden and illicit markets, their mechanisms and socio-economic impacts, the supply chains of illicit trade and the links to the legal economy. A research group was recently launched to study Estonian seaports’ vulnerability to illegal trade and to assess factors that affect the ability of ports and law enforcement agencies to prevent it.
We study and model markets where a range of safety, security and security risks arise. Both the extent of these problems and the impact of regulatory interventions in mitigating them are assessed. For example, the social costs of both excessive alcohol consumption and tobacco products have been assessed, the impact of alcohol excise policy on traffic safety and the impact of regulations concerning the tobacco market on fire safety, including their social profitability, have been analysed.