Parliament laid down clear rules by which to ensure the functioning of the so-called 2% Law that enables private individuals to direct a part of the income tax to a nongovernmental or a religious organization. Deputy Speaker Liliana Palihovici, who is one of the authors of the amendments, in the May 27 sitting of Parliament said this initiative is designed to ensure equity between NGOs and religious organizations as potential beneficiaries. The bill with amendments was passed in the first reading, IPN reports.

Liliana Palihovici reminded that the so-called 2% Law was adopted by Parliament on July 18, 2014. But this law could not be implemented because the mechanism for putting it into practice was not worked out. The law aims to sensitize the people to the importance of the NGO sector and to increase the durability of financing intended for civil society. Some of the provisions of this law were not perfect and didn’t ensure equal conditions for public associations and religious organizations. The goal of the new draft law is to ensure equal access to financing and regulate the given mechanism.

Thus, to benefit from the 2% of the incomes tax, the NGOs and religious organizations will have to prove that they do social work, have worked for at least a year and do not have debts to the national public budget.

The bill specifies how the people can direct 2% of their income tax. This can be done when submitting the tax returns, by stating the intention to donate the 2% to an organization. The one who donates must also not have debts to the state budget.