Bulgaria's Top Music Stars Forced to Pay BGN 1 M in Taxes

Bulgarian pop diva Lili Ivanova has called accusations of big discrepancies between declared incomes and her actual assets just another portion of mud-slinging. Photo by Sofia Photo Agency

Bulgarian biggest music stars Lili Ivanova, Vasil Naydenov and Aziz will pay a whopping BGN 1 M in taxes following a probe for possible tax evasion as part of measures to curb rampant fraud and boost budget revenues, according to reports.

The news has been confirmed by the national revenue agency head Krassimir Stefanov, who however refused to disclose the names of the singers.

The music icons were among the first 16 singers against whom the National Revenue Agency (NRA) launched checks for tax evasion about a year and a half ago as many of them are believed to declare only a fraction of their true earnings.

"The checks are already nearing their end and they already paid off. Just for two months most singers have registered for VAT, which means they have declared their true earnings," Stefanov said during his visit to the coastal town of Burgas.

According to a report of local 24 Hours daily the singers with the biggest discrepancies between declared incomes and actual assets held are Vasil Naydenov, Lili Ivanova and pop folk diva Preslava.

"This is just the next batch of insinuation," Lili Ivanova said when approached by the daily and declined to comment.

Musicians have to pay back the taxes they owe if audits prove their real and declared incomes did not match.

Bulgaria's center-right government, which swept the elections last summer, has launched a number of tax evasion checks as it fears that a failure to meet its promise to fight against graft and powerful organized crime could lead to more sanctions by the European Union.

In the summer last year the revenue agency checked the property and bank deposits of more than 70 top flight football players for suspected tax evasion and now it claims the probe is yielding results – some of the players are already reporting incomes as high as BGN 50,000 per month.

The action was a follow-up to previous checks of players and top flight clubs that revealed millions of levs of unpaid taxes and social securities.

We need your support so Novinite.com can keep delivering news and information about Bulgaria! Thank you!