Sofia to Defend Garbage Tax before Supreme Court

Politics » DOMESTIC | August 8, 2011, Monday // 15:38
Bulgaria: Sofia to Defend Garbage Tax before Supreme Court Sofia Mayor Yordanka Fandakova has warned that if current garbage tax formation principles are changed, Sofia citizens may have to dig much deeper into their pockets. Photo by BGNES

Sofia Municipality will appeal the decision of Administrative Court Sofia City (ACSC) on household waste tax, according to Sofia Mayor Yordanka Fandakova.

One week ago, ACSC declared Sofia Municipality's method of calculating residential garbage fee illegal.

The lawsuit at the Sofia-based administrative court was started by Civil Initiative "Justice" which said in a statement that "Garbage is generated by people, not properties, which makes it totally unjust to determine garbage tax on the basis of the taxable value of the property in question, not the garbage disposed".

Garbage fee in Bulgaria's capital is currently determined on the basis of property tax value.

However, the Local Taxes and Fees Act (LTFA) provides that garbage tax should be determined on the basis of quantities of garbage disposed by the owner, and when they can not established, the municipalities can use taxable value of the property.

Sofia Municipality has vowed to submit all necessary documents justifying the current method of garbage tax formation by August 11, the deadline for filing an appeal with the Supreme Administrative Court (VAS).

Sofia Mayor Fandakova cautioned Monday that amendments to the existing tax formation principles would result in a significant hike in garbage tax rates for Sofia citizens.

She explained that three working groups had been tasked with examining the issue, including representatives of French consultant Egis, which is conducting the financial-economic analysis of the Sofia waste treatment plant, of the state administration and of the National Association of Municipalities in the Republic of Bulgaria (NAMRB).

In an interview for the Bulgarian National Radio (BNR) earlier Monday, Ivan Gruikin, Chairman of the Civil Initiative "Justice" urged Sofia citizens who had not paid garbage fee to wait until the final decision on the legality of the Sofia Municipality's practice.

According to the lawyer, if the existing tax formation principles are revoked by VAS, Sofianites should either get their money back or have the sums deducted from future payments.

MPs of ruling center-right party GERB recently declared that garbage fee could be determined on the basis of people living in a home, instead of tax evaluation, which would be more justified, given that "it is not buildings that generate waste, but people".

The statement was opposed by the Sofia Municipality.

On July 04, the Bulgarian Commission for Protection against Discrimination issued a statement confirming that the existing garbage fee collection principles in Sofia constituted a discriminatory practice due to the different criteria used for natural and legal persons.

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Tags: Sofia Municipality, Yordanka Fandakova, garbage tax, garbage disposal, Sofia Mayor, Sofia waste treatment plant

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