Ghost companies deprived budget of millions of lei

The fictitious companies last year caused damage of at least 3 million lei to the state budget, the State Main Tax Inspectorate established after checking 165 companies of the kind, Info-Prim Neo reports. “It is hard to prove that these companies work illegally and to collect the documents needed to take legal action. New and new proofs are needed though the violations are sometimes obvious. Thus, about 3 million lei could not be levied and transferred to the budget,” the Inspectorate's deputy head Procopie Duca said in a meeting. In 2009, the State Main Tax Inspectorate calculated additional taxes and fines of 450 million lei as a result of inspections. 141 million lei of this entered the budget. Procopie Duca also said that the State Tax Service in 2010 will gradually abandon the routine checks on the financial records and will step up the dialogue with the economic entities so as to convince them to fulfill their fiscal obligations.