Bulgaria's Revenue Authority to Boost Annual Receipts by BGN 700 M

NRA Executive Director Krasimir Stefanov claims that the revenue authority will boost annual receipts by BGN 700 M by end-2012. Photo by BGNES

By end-2012, Bulgaria's National Revenue Agency (NRA) hopes to boost tax and social security receipts by nearly BGN 700 M as compared to 2011 results, according to NRA Executive Director Krasimir Stefanov.

Stefanov argues that the reasons for the good results are the project for the remote connection of cash registers to the revenue administration, the set of legal amendments adopted at the proposal of the NRA, and the control activity of the Agency.

Since the beginning of the year, there have been over 1000 tax crime convictions, according to the NRA head.

Stefanov notes that the most high-risk industries in Bulgaria are construction and grain trade.

By end-2012, NRA officials are to conduct tax inspections at hotels, bars, and restaurants in Bulgarian winter resorts.

In Stefanov's words, a risk assessment of the NRA uncovered an estimated BGN 700 M in unreported turnovers for a period of four years in the sector of intermediation in the sale of real estate.

The NRA head explains that the problem is to be resolved through inspections, meetings with industry representatives, and an informational campaign targeted at the clients of such services.

According to Stefanov, withheld VAT is at an unprecedented low level of BGN 213 M, or nearly three times lower than in 2009.

He makes clear that six countries have expressed interest in the project for the remote connection of cash registers to the NRA database, among which Greece and Belarus.

The six countries are currently studying the opportunities for implementing the system of remote electronic reporting of turnovers.

Meanwhile, the NRA and the NGO sector consider expanding the scope of information exchanged via the remote connection to the NRA information system beyond financial transaction reports.

In Sfetanov's words, the remote connection to the revenue authority could be used to transmit information about commodity flows too.