Value added tax

 Athens will ask its creditors for the reduction of the rate by 15-20 percent, slashing the price by 8 cents

By Prokopis Hatzinikolaou

By Prokopis Hatzinikolaou

Value-added tax returns in Greece will soon be settled within just one week thanks to a new automatic system that Finance Ministry officials are examining in association with their colleagues at the General Secretariat of Information Systems.

 State budget has suffered 400-million-euro shortfall due to hike

By Prokopis Hatzinikolaou

The government will include a reduction in the special consumption tax on heating oil in its package of tax relief measures to be negotiated with the country’s creditors from September, despite previous rejections by the lenders.

Three public enterprises, “Makedonija pat”, “Makedonski sumi”  and “Komunalec - Gostivar”, are among the top ten debtors in Macedonia, according the report of the Public Revenue Office. Together they owe the state around €11 million.

The list reveals that some 3,500 state and private companies as well as individuals owe the state a total of €200 million.

A bill envisaging the integration of the National Revenue Agency and Customs Agency is being drafted at the Bulgarian Ministry of Finance.

If approved, a reform setting up a revenue "mega-agency" could begin next year at the earliest.

 Creditors to oppose any relaxation of austerity policy even if it comes with offsetting measures

By Prokopis Hatzinikolaou

The Finance Ministry is drawing up a set of measures aimed at lightening tax debts and bringing an end to distortions in tax legislation, to be submitted for discussion with the country’s creditors in mid-July.

Group of suspects arrested for tax evasion

NOVI SAD -- The police in Novi Sad have detained 17 people and are searching for nine others on suspicion they helped companies evade paying taxes worth over EUR 3 million.

According to a statement, the arrested are suspected of criminal enterprise, abuse of authority and tax evasion.

Prime Minister Victor Ponta in Timisoara (western Romania) on Thursday said that the Government wanted to expand the agri-food product range for which to reduce the value-added tax (VAT), the decision going to be made after the assessment in autumn on the effect of the VAT reduction for bread.

Bulgaria's Road Infrastructure Agency announced a procurement for the construction of a 31.5 km section of the Sofia-Kalotina highway.

The procedure will be divided into two lots, one from Kalotina to Dragoman and the other from Dragoman to Hrabarsko and is worth an estimated BGN 200M, VAT excluded.

BELGRADE - All foreign donations sent to flood-threatened regions in Serbia are exempt from payment of customs duties and VAT, and this also applies to donations through mobile phones distributed via all operators, as stipulated by the Law on Donations and Humanitarian Aid, the Serbian Ministry of Finance said in a release Tuesday.