The National NGO Council of Moldova called on Parliament to abrogate the Tax Code provision that allows the private individuals to direct up to 2% of the income tax they pay to support religious organizations and nongovernmental organizations of public utility. In a news conference at IPN, members of the Council said this provision was voted ‘under the table’ and can lead to money laundering.
The Council’s secretary general Antonita Fonari said that in essence, it is a necessary initiative. Work on it lasted for almost five years. But last December Parliament passed it in a form that wasn’t discussed with civil society and the Government.
Iuliana Cantaragiu, a member of the working group that designed the conception, said that initially the provision was to be applied from 2014 for legal entities and from 2015 for private individuals. But the bill was adopted by the MPs in a completely different form.
Also, the working group that included representatives of the State Chancellery and the Ministry of Finance decided that the public utility mechanism should be strengthened so that all the institutions that will benefit from these 2% are of public utility. But, under the passed bill, only the NGOs must have a public utility certificate, not yet the religious organizations.
Deputy head of the National NGO Council Liuba Ceban said that two separate regimes are thus created – a simplified one for religious organizations and a responsible one for NGOs. “We see that the religious institutions enjoy preferential treatment,” she stated.
The members of the Council also said that as there is no clear mechanism specifying the purposes for which these amounts can be spent and when spending reports should be presented, the money can be ‘laundered’.
The Council’s head Alexei Buzu said the changes must be abrogated and the discussions should be resumed. Before being submitted to Parliament, the bill must be given an anticorruption appraisal by the Government.
The modification of the Tax Code by introducing the ‘2%’ was initiated by Lib-Dems Valeriu Ghiletski and Veaceslav Ionita. The members of the National NGO Council said they found out about the amendment from the media.
