The new tax law marks the beginning of an aggressive campaign against the grey economy, tax evasion and under-collection of tax revenues, Serbian Finance Minister Lazar Krstic said Tuesday.
Presenting the proposed amendments to the law on tax procedure and tax administration in the Serbian parliament, Krstic pointed out that, under the new regulation, companies will no longer be able to maintain their liquidity by not paying taxes, as this practice will become unprofitable.
“We have changed the manner of defining penalties wherever possible, by defining them with regard to the damage caused by the offence. We have also increased the fines,” Krstic told members of the Serbian parliament.
“It is a law which all those who mean well to the public finances should support,” said the minister, describing the amendments as the most comprehensive ones introduced to this law over the past ten years.
“It is a frequent practice for companies that face liquidity problems to decide not to pay taxes and instead use the funds to keep their business running. This practically means that the state and the taxpayers fund those who run unsuccessful businesses. Everyone should be clear that the state does not provide imaginary economic incentives to companies,” said Krstic.
He specified that one of the ways to eliminate this problem is to make the interest rate on late tax payment 10 percentage points higher than the referent interest rate.
“In that way, tax evasion will not pay off for anyone,” said Krstic.
Looking at the costs of tax administration, Serbia ranks as 161st of the 189 countries surveyed, Krstic pointed out, and added that more tax administration staff will be engaged as the control of taxpayers will be carried out twice a month.
Source SerbGov
