Moldovan finance ministry presents to consultation draft of tax, customs policy for 2018

Chisinau, 01 July /MOLDPRES/ – The Ministry of Finance presented the draft Tax and Customs Policy for 2018 to public consultations with the business and expert communities. The document proposes a field balanced policy, and the main changes are elaborated with the financial assistance from the Good Governance Fund, according to the finance ministry’s public relations service.

The most important measures in the draft law are the harmonization of VAT legislation and excise duty with the European directives, the phasing out of tax and customs facilities granted to duty-free shops. It is also expected to simplify the conditions for granting approved exporters’ status to domestic export agents and to introduce tax on cars worth more than 1.5 million lei.

The annual taxable income of individuals up to 33,000 lei (compared to 31,140 lei now) will be taxed at a rate of 7 per cent and a taxable amount exceeding 33,000 lei will be applied at a rate of 18 per cent. The draft law stipulates the increase of the personal exemption for individuals from 10,620 lei to 11,280 lei. The legal entities will pay a tax of 12 per cent, and farmers at 7 per cent for the farms.

According to the project, the excise rate for alcoholic beverages, jewelery will be adjusted to the inflation rate projected for 2018 and 5 per cent respectively. The quotas will be set for 3 years. In order to ensure the minimum excise duty on tobacco products provided by the EU Directives, it is proposed to increase the ad valorem quota by 12 per cent to 13 per cent by 2020 and the fixed rate from 460 lei to 540 lei for 1000 cigarettes. It is planned to stepwise increase the excise tax on filter and non-filter cigarettes in the coming years, and by 2025 the excise rate will be at least 90 euros per 1000 cigarettes, irrespective of the average retail price.

According to the document, excise duty on diesel will increase from 1926 lei to 2092 lei per ton, and the fuel oil excise will maintain at 409 lei per ton.

The public consultations on the Tax and Customs Policies project for 2018 will be finalized on 17 July 2017, to be presented to the Government for approval.

(Reporter V. Bercu, editor M. Jantovan)