Bulgarians Abroad Approach EP over Health Insurance Tax

Politics » BULGARIA IN EU | January 3, 2007, Wednesday // 00:00

Bulgarian nationals, living abroad, have lodged a petition with the European Parliament, in a bid to urge the government to cancel all health insurance taxes due by expatriates for the period since 2000.

"We hoped that Bulgarian accession to the EU would bring justice and resolve the case of Bulgarian expatriates who were being forced to pay health insurance taxes in Bulgaria regardless of their permanent residence abroad," says the letter, which has been signed by 147 Bulgarian citizens from 36 countries.

The last change in the Bulgarian health insurance law exempts Bulgarians living in another EU-member country from the mandatory health insurance tax. Yet, this law does not write off the payments for the period of 2000 - 2005, and therefore ignores the fact the Bulgarian expatriates have regularly paid their health insurance contributions in their respective countries of residence.

The letter points out that as of January 1st 2007, hundreds of thousands of Bulgarian and European citizens will be legally forced to pay for a service they have never used.

The protestors are planning to celebrate the Bulgarian accession to the EU with the first street rally of Bulgarian citizens living in Europe in Brussels.

"This will be not a rally of joy, but a rally of protest," the letter says.

The petition is the first document to be lodged to the European Parliament after Bulgaria's accession to the European Union.

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