At an extraordinary meeting, the Council of Ministers adopted the package of tax laws to be "sent to the Parliament, so that they will be examined by the Committee on Budget and Finance this Thursday". This was stated by the Minister of Finance Asen Vasilev, reported BGNES.
"There was a public discussion for about 1 month, after which several proposals were taken into account and the laws have been finalized for sending," Vassilev added, specifying that there is a fairly balanced tax package of laws, but the parliament has the last word.
The finance minister noted that after the adoption of the tax laws, the revenue part of the budget will be fixed and the parliament will be able to adopt the budget before the end of the year.
Vassilev commented on the criticism of GERB leader Boyko Borisov that the package of tax laws was unknown to his political formation, saying that the package of tax laws was published at the end of September and was under public discussion for 1 month. He emphasized that a number of organizations, employers and trade unions, and branch organizations have submitted an application on what to change, how to change it, so that it corresponds to the goals that have been set.
"The zero rate for bread and flour, as it was adopted last year, is valid until the middle of 2024. This remains, there are no changes. As for the rate of restaurateurs and hoteliers - we received a lot of proposals from their organizations, so that post terminals must be introduced in all 2, 3, 4, 5 star establishments, only the smallest ones should be exempted," explained the finance minister. He also specified that salaries in 2, 3, 4 and 4 stars must be paid by bank transfer.
Vassilev specified that if all this is accepted, then 9% can remain as a temporary measure, since the treasury will collect more funds in this way than through an increase in VAT. "If it is not accepted, we maintain 20% VAT, i.e. there the choice is up to the parliament - whether to accept the notification package or to accept 20%", explained the finance minister. He added that all establishments that cost less than BGN 100,000 are subject to patent tax, i.e. their income from profit tax will go directly to the municipalities.
The Finance Minister said that 3% inflation and 4.8% inflation, 3.2 real GDP growth are set in the 2024 Budget. Next year's GDP is expected to be BGN 205 billion. The final parameters of the budget also depend on the tax laws, after they pass the first reading in committee, the budget will be published for discussion.
According to Vassilev, the most important thing that happened in these local elections is that the people were able to elect mayors who will work for the improvement of their city. "In different cities, these are representatives of different political forces. "We continue the change" in the runoff won in several key cities - in Sofia, Varna, Blagoevgrad, Pazardzhik", he pointed out and added that this shows that a large part of the Bulgarian cities have preferred to change their previous management model.
Vassilev also commented on today's speech of the head of state. "Radev is out of step with the political processes in the country. The last few weeks there has been quite a lot of tension between the parties. Each party is fighting for its electorate and the way it sees the movement of the country. The only commonality we have seen is that we are striving to have a normal European country, Bulgaria, and not look east to Moscow," he concluded. /BGNES
