Presentation of CSD’s Expert Opinion on VAT Related Fraud
On 26 January 2006Mr. Konstantin Pashev and Mr. Petkan Iliev, Senior Fellows at CSD Economic Program, took part in the meeting of the Parliamentary Combating Corruption Committee to discuss issues related to the countering of VAT fraud. The experts presented the main conclusions and recommendations from the CSD report Corruption and Tax Compliance. Policy and Administration Challenges regarding the misappropriation of tax credit. They also recommended the use of three types of instruments by the authorities: measures, related to the devolvement and re-registration of companies; measures against the accounting at prices, deviating from the prevailing market ones; and measures for optimizing the solidary liability principle as alternative to the use of VAT account. The experts underlined that currently the VAT account only increases the expenditures of the compliant tradesmen and does not act as barrier for the VAT drain. These conclusions were the main issues of the discussion, in which participated the Minister of Finance Mr. Plamen Oresharski, the Deputy Minister of Finance Mr. Georgi Kadiev, the Chairman of the Combating Corruption Committee Mr. Boyko Velikov and representatives the National Revenue Agency.
