Bulgaria's Finance Ministry Predicts BGN 900 M Shortfall in Tax Revenue by end-2014

Business » FINANCE | September 4, 2014, Thursday // 15:12
Bulgaria: Bulgaria's Finance Ministry Predicts BGN 900 M Shortfall in Tax Revenue by end-2014 Kiril Ananiev, Deputy Finance Minister in the caretaker government, photo by BGNES

The deficit of Bulgaria's consolidated state budget amounts to BGN 1.147 B by mid-2014, according to Kiril Ananiev, Deputy Finance Minister in the caretaker government.

Speaking during Thursday's sitting of the National Council for Tripartite Cooperation, he said that a sum of BGN 500 M of the total was EU funding which could be lost.

Ananiev said that the problem was due to the poor pace of revenue collection, lagged behind the target by around BGN 999 M.

He informed that indirect taxes were BGN 77 M below the target, adding that the collection rate of direct taxes was better.

Bulgaria's caretaker Deputy Finance Minister, as cited by dnevnik.bg, said that

"Against a forecast for an 11% growth in receipts, the actual growth is only 1.7%. VAT collection stands at 49.8% of the target, up by BGN 1.4 M from last year, against a forecast for a 12% growth," Bulgaria's caretaker Deputy Finance Minister said, as cited by dnevnik.bg.

He made clear that estimates of the Finance Ministry indicated that tax receipts could be BGN 900 M below the target by end-2014.

Ananiev said that the Finance Ministry had prepared measures aimed at curbing tax evasion and increasing excise duty collection rates, as well as tightening control at border crossing points and on the territory of the country through joint inspections of the National Revenue Agency, the Interior Ministry, the Bulgarian Food Safety Agency, and the Customs Agency.

Ananiev, however, expressed fears that the 22% budget cuts posed a risk to government officials, adding that some ministries could be unable to pay their officials in end-2014.

He said that a budget update amounting to up to 3% of the GDP was being prepared, without disclosing any details.

As regards the budget of the National Health Insurance Fund, he said that a project had been drafted to inject an extra BGN 117 M into it by the end of the year.

Bulgaria's caretaker Deputy Finance Minister said that he had started comparing healthcare expenses over the past few years to see why they had increased so sharply without producing noticeable results.

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Tags: National Council for Tripartite Cooperation, excise duty, indirect taxes, direct taxes, revenue collection, budget deficit, Deputy Finance Minister, Kiril Ananiev, caretaker government, budget

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