"The progressive tax should have been introduced in Bulgaria long ago. It is not only socially fair, but it also provides greater revenue to the budget".
This opinion was expressed to the Bulgarian National Radio by Prof. Rumen Gechev - economist and lecturer.
The IMF is expected to present its final conclusions from its observations of our country today. On Friday, the Fund concluded that Bulgaria must move to a progressive tax system, abolish the maximum social security income, increase the pension insurance contribution, and control the cost of remuneration in the public sector. Bulgaria should pursue a policy of tightening the fiscal policy, the IMF also recommended.
"Progressive taxation has an overwhelming majority in nearly 200 UN member states. Over 95-96% of countries, including all developed countries, the vast majority of developing countries, have had progressive taxation for centuries, decades", commented Prof. Gechev.
He has been categorically against the flat tax since its introduction. The triple coalition introduced the flat tax, the economist reminded and added: "I do not accept any excuse for its introduction, as this is an absolutely internationally proven anti-social tax - the flat tax benefits the rich, it leads to a deepening of social polarization".
According to him, Bulgaria is the most socially stratified country in the EU, and one of the factors for this is precisely the flat tax.
In the program "12+3" Gechev emphasized that the Fund's recommendation to increase social security corresponds to global practice:
"We cannot fool the market economy endlessly. You cannot contribute, figuratively speaking, 5 leva per month to social security and then want a European pension – where will this money come from".
Either we have to raise the ceiling on contributions and increase them, or we have to take out new loans, growing like an avalanche, in the coming years, the economist noted.
According to him, removing the ceiling on social security will have two positive effects - it will reduce the pressure on the budget and will provide higher pensions that meet real market conditions.
As for property taxes, Prof. Gechev recommended being careful:
"There too, changes should be made progressively, and not taxes should be increased for all Bulgarians, regardless of their income and whether they live in a studio apartment on the 16th floor or live in good conditions".
The devil is in the details, he reminded. According to him, there should be a social approach and the increase should be smooth. Otherwise, the increase is inevitable, the economist also believes.
"We cannot afford to let the rich pay taxes like the poor, to spread out over hundreds of square meters of land and pay the same tax and tell us that they are evading taxes".
Rumen Gechev assessed the BSP's participation in the government extremely negatively. "The current BSP leadership has betrayed absolutely all the principles of the party. There was no way I could not leave, because the cup ran over. There is no way I can stand there and cover up these political scandals", he pointed out.