The Bulgarian Industrial Chamber objects to the planned increase in sanctions in the tax laws, which according to the organization is not sufficiently justified. In an interview with the Bulgarian National Radio, the deputy chairman of BIA Stanislav Popdonchev said that in some of the projects it is planned that the numerical value of the fines will remain the same, but the word "levy" will be replaced by "euro".
„We do not support the unmotivated increase in sanctions by formally replacing "levy" with “euro“,“ Popdonchev said.
According to him, the Ministry of Finance has adopted a horizontal approach to increasing sanctions in all draft tax laws presented and discussed in the National Council for Tripartite Cooperation. He specified that the increase is not everywhere double, but in a number of cases it is not related only to the currency conversion.
When the numerical value of the sanction is preserved, and the currency changes from levs to euros, its size in practice increases significantly. Popdonchev pointed out that in some cases this means an approximately 96% increase.
BIA demands an analysis of the size of the fines
BIA has expressed its objections in each of its opinions on the tax bills. According to Popdonchev, the argument that some of the sanctions have not been changed for a long time is not in itself sufficient to determine a new amount.
“The purpose of the sanction is not to collect fines in the budget, but to prevent violations and reduce the number of violations“, said the deputy chairman of the chamber.
He said that the Ministry of Finance indicated that an analysis of the sanctions had been carried out. According to him, however, this analysis is not visible in the motivations for the individual bills, is not public and has not been provided to the Bulgarian Association of Industrialists.
The chamber insists that any real increase be justified with data on the practice, necessity and proportionality of the sanctions. The Ministry of Finance presented a package of changes to seven tax laws, on which the legislative procedure is to continue.
Business also expects a decision on the price of electricity
In the interview, Popdonchev also commented on the electricity costs of enterprises. According to him, under the current mechanism, part of the higher electricity prices for businesses can be transferred to the final prices of goods and services.
„We are yet to find out whether there will be a change in this mechanism and whether there is a resource with which compensations can be paid to businesses“, he said.
Sources: bnrnews.bg