Billions of BGN Lost in Uncollected VAT Revenues in the Past 17 Years

Bulgaria’s National Revenue Agency said on 22^nd of March that BGN 5 billion and 400 million will not go the state treasury, because that money is due by persons who have no property. However, the tax officials hope to collect a significant amount of the arrears.

As of 1^st of January, 2018, the total amount of uncollected VAT receivables amounted to 16 billion BGN, according to the National Revenue Agency checks. Of these, 5.4 billion cannot be collected because the people who owe them do not own any property.

The reason for this is that when companies accumulate obligations they transfer them to people who are not literate and have no money.

The reason for this is that when companies accumulate liabilities they transfer them to people who are not literate and have no money.

NRA has undertaken measures to increase collection rate and reduce VAT frauds including monthly checks of VAT registered persons, seeking joint and several liability of company owners, not just companies themselves, and prohibiting debtors from getting back into the VAT system.

While in 2011 the uncollected receivables from VAT amounted to BGN 1 billion and 100 million, the figure of uncollected receivables in 2017 was BGN 270 million, according to NRA data.

VAT fraud is not a Bulgarian phenomenon, it is a common problem throughout the European Union, around the world, NRA officials say.

The average annual VAT fraud in the European Union is estimated at € 150 billion. This is why member states are thinking about new ways to prevent such frauds.