Parliament adopted a bill to amend the Tax Code and the law on customs duties so that VAT is uniformly applied to medicines. This way, a common VAT rate of 8% will be imposed on medicines, regardless of their tariff position, IPN reports.
So far, inequity was witnessed with regard to the VAT imposed on medicines registered in the State Nomenclature and those that are not registered in this Nomenclature, but have been authorized for import by the Agency for Medicines and Medical Devices.
Consequently, multiple cases of groundless modification of the tariff position in the case of some of the medicines by the Customs Service, with the use of a VAT rate of 20%, not of 8%, were recorded. Sometimes, two entities differently interpret the same product. This way, the Agency for Medicines and Medical Devices considers the preparation Linkus is a drug for which the VAT rate is 8%, while the Customs Service classes it a food supplement and puts a VAT rate of 20% on it.
Bill author Dan Perciun said the move will contribute to stabilizing and reducing the prices of retailed medicines. Another objective is to ensure access to the pharmaceutical market for a number of drugs that disappeared from national drugstores the past few years. By removing the sometimes bureaucratic barriers, the business entities that import pharmaceutical products will be enabled to swifter clear drugs and put them on sale.
