Ivan Simic was born on May 20, 1959, in the village Grad near Murska Sobota, in Slovenia. After completion of primary school in 1974, he enrolled in the Marshal Tito Airborne Gymnasium in Mostar, which finishes in 1978. He did not continue his education at the Military Airborne Academy but enrolled in a study of law. At the same time, he studied at the Faculty of Sport in Ljubljana. He graduated from the Faculty of Law in 1986.
Between 1980 and 1982 he worked in the Ministry of the Internal Affairs, and later in Iskra Commerce in Ljubljana. In April 1988, he started tax consulting and accounting, and in 1989 opened his first tax consulting and accounting firm, where he is still employed.
During 2005 and 2006, he was a member of the reform group of the Slovenian tax system, with which many tax deductions for taxpayers and disburdens for tax administration were introduced.
From 1 January 2006 to 17 July 2008, he was Director General of the Tax Administration of the Republic of Slovenia, which at the time completely changed its attitude towards taxpayers. During its management of Tax Administration, many simplified operations were introduced for both, tax payers and tax authority. He completely disburdened taxpayers to report annual income tax. Today, the Tax Administration of Slovenia sends to taxpayers already filled the income tax forms to citizens. In case that data entered in tax forms is correct these forms automatically become tax submission. With implementation of his ideas and changes, the Tax Administration of Slovenia saved at least two million euros of costs annually.
At the time of June 13, 2007 until June 01, 2008 he was president of the European Tax Administration (IOTA), which at the time gathered 42 European tax administrations.
At the end of 2008 he completed his master’s degree at the Law Faculty in Maribor.
At the time of February 20, 2009 to November 17, 2010 he was president of the Football Association of Slovenia. At that time, the football team qualified for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.
From November 2009 to May 2012 he was a member of the Fiscal Council of the Government of the Republic of Slovenia. At the same time, he prepared proposal for a new tax reform.
From August 2012 to January 31, 2013 he was an Advisor to the Minister of Finance of the Republic of Serbia for the area of reorganization and modernization of tax administration work. On December 14, 2012, the Government of the Republic of Serbia appointed him as the Acting Director of the Tax Administration of the Republic of Serbia. He took over the positon on February 1, 2013 and performed it until December 31, 2013. At that time, many changes were made in the work of the Tax Administration of the Republic of Serbia.
In the period from June 28, 2013 to December 31, 2013, he was re-elected President of the European Tax Administration (IOTA), which at that time gathered 46 European tax administrations.
All the time, with exception of time when he was the director of the Tax Administration of the Republic of Slovenia and the Tax Administration of the Republic of Serbia, and that is over 27 years he was a tax advisor. In his group within “Simic & Partners” 12 people are employed.
In 2000 ” Davčno izobraževalni inštitut – Poresko edukativni institut ” was established, which has brought together more than 140 members (legal and natural persons). The Institute issues a tax journal “DENAR”, and he is the Editor in Chief. The Institute organizes annually about fifteen different seminars related to tax topics and has got the “Tax Academy of Ivan Simic”, where future tax advisors in Slovenia are trained.
In the period from 2006 to 2018, he was elected eleven times by the “Tax-fin-lex” portal users as “the most distinguished tax expert” in Slovenia.
European Association of Managers from Sarajevo rewarded him as “the most prominent tax expert in South East Europe in 2013″ emphasizing his outstanding contribution to the stabilization of the situation and the introduction of positive changes in the tax system of the Republic of Slovenia and the Republic of Serbia.
NALED – National Alliance for Local Economic Development and RTS – Radio Television of Serbia selected him as the Reformer 2013 in the category “Regulatory Authority Manager” because of the launch of vital projects and initiatives which enabled simplified administrative procedure for tax reporting, increase of visibility of the tax administration work and the creation of environment for further reforms of the tax system.
He is President of the Tax Advisory Chamber of Slovenia and President of the Association of Tax Consultants of Serbia.
He has published more than two hundred articles in various magazines and journals. He Individually or together with the co-authors issued several books and manuals in the field of taxation.
Up to date, he has participated in more than 600 tax procedures as a legal representative of taxpayers.
