In the Republic of Moldova, the fiscal morality that shows the people’s inclination to pay taxes has one of the lowest levels in the region. In an commentary, expert of the independent think tank “Expert-Grup” Alexandu Fala says that according to the estimates for 2014, the average fiscal morality score was 2.82. This shows that compared with other countries of the region, the population in the Republic of Moldova has a relatively poor motivation to pay taxes, IPN reports.
According to the expert, corruption influences fiscal morality, affects the citizens’ attitude towards paying taxes and diminishes confidence in the tax administration system. Such manifestations of corruption as bribe taking and acceptance of undeserved benefits from the state also diminish the level of fiscal morality. The justification of the acceptance of unofficial salaries has the biggest influence on fiscal morality.
According to Alexandru Fala, the informing of the population about the use of public funds can have an impact on fiscal morality, while the enhanced budgetary transparency can lead to an increased probability of improvement of the attitude towards paying taxes. The citizens are more disposed to pay taxes when they are not deceived by the state and know how the public funds are used. The taxpayers cannot be motivated to pay taxes if they see that the public functionaries are corrupt.
The expert believes the relationship between fiscal morality and corruption should be regarded in the context of the poor functioning of the economy because the earning of unofficial incomes demotivates the citizens to declare the real value of revenues and, implicitly, to pay the appropriate taxes. The citizens’ inclination to pay taxes also decreases when the payment of taxes transposes to public services of a poor quality.
Alexandru Fala noted the stimulation of the country’s socioeconomic development can improve fiscal morality. Besides the reforms aimed at improving the economic climate, the changes that can ensure the proper functioning of the state, such as corruption fighting, justice sector reform, strengthening of public institutions and provision of high-quality public services, are also vital.
