More legislative acts adjusted to changes in Moldovan fiscal code on tax reform

Chisinau, 04 July /MOLDPRES/ – The Government today approved a draft law to adjust the legal framework to the amendments and additions to the Fiscal Code in December 2016, according to which since 01 April 2017 the 36 tax bodies were reorganized into one legal entity – the State Tax Service (SFS).

Thus, the notions of "fiscal body", "territorial state tax inspectorate", "specialized state tax inspectorate" and "Main State Tax Inspectorate" are replaced by the notion of "State Tax Service". According to the amendments, the SFS "will apply enforcement measures, similar to tax obligations in the event of failure to pay in time for state budget breakdowns." These duties were not provided for by the legislation in force of 1994.

Also, for the delayed transfer of the means for elaborating the normative documents in construction, a penalty will be calculated and paid to the state budget, similar to the non-payment in due time of the taxes and duties. The tax administration will exclude the management of the collection of mandatory contributions of producers of wine products, their records, calculation of penalties and the tracking of debts. These tasks will be delegated to the State Inspectorate for Alcoholic Production Supervision of the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industry.

The examination of the contraventions will be delegated by the central body and other public servants within the SFS, given the large number of minutes drawn up by the tax authorities, about 20 thousand annually.

The draft also provides for amendments to the Criminal Code in order to allow the taxpayer, who is suspected of tax evasion, to cover the prejudice caused to the budget as an immediate action on his own initiative and to reduce the role of judicial bodies in that process. That change is necessary because, since the incrimination of the tax evasion actions, it was confirmed that the predominantly sanctioned character of the law did not lead to a significant reduction of the phenomenon of tax evasion.

The draft law will be submitted to Parliament for consideration.

(Reporter V. Bercu, editor A. Raileanu)