State Main Tax Inspectorate urges taxpayers to benefit from 15% reduction. Info-Prim Neo interview with Stela Gutu, deputy division head at the Inspectorate

[- The taxpayers have one more month at the disposal, until June 30, to pay the property tax (the realty tax and the land tax) beforehand and benefit from a 15% reduction. Did the taxpayers receive the payment notices?] - The taxpayers received the payment notices. Under the legislation, the private individuals can pay the property tax by equal installments in two stages – by August 15 and by October 15 of the fiscal year. If the payment is made by June 30, the taxpayer is offered a reduction of 15% of the tax. The same payment terms and the 15% reduction apply for the land tax, both for private individuals and legal entities. [- Will the persons that have arrears for last year be able to benefit from the 15% reduction this year?] - Only if they pay the tax for this year and the arrears, including penalties, for last year by June 30. [- What are the realty tax rates?] - The highest rate for houses situated in rural areas, as fixed in the Tax Code, is 0.1% of the value of the property. The local councils set the tax rates yearly, when approving the budgets. They must not exceed the highest rate and be lower than 50% of the highest rate. The coefficients are increased depending on the area occupied by the houses or constructions – 1.5 times for the buildings that occupy 100 to 150 square meters, 2 times – 150 to 200 square meters, 10 times – 200 to 300 square meters and 15 times – more than 300 square meters. The tax rate for residential buildings located in municipalities and towns is fixed by the councils of the territorial-administrative units. It must be lower than 0.02% and higher than 0.25% of the market value of the property determined by the cadastral bodies. For example, the realty tax rate for 2009 in Briceni town is 0.09%, in Ialoveni town – 0.02%, in Cahul town – 0.03%. In Chisinau, the rate is 0.02%. If the building is over 100 square meters in area, but not larger than 200 square meters, the rate is raised three times. If the area is larger than 200 square meters, the rate is increased 28 times. [- How many houses in the municipality of Chisinau occupy more than 100 square meters?] - There are 14,833 such houses. The tax calculated according to an increased coefficient amounts to over 11 million lei. [- What are the land tax rates?] - The Law on the Implementation of Title VI of the Tax Code says that the highest rate of the land tax is equal to the highest rate of the realty tax. The rates are approved by the local authorities. The following factors are taken into account: category of the land, destination and location, the absence or presence of cadastral indexes. For example, the tax for farmland that has cadastral indexes is 1.5 lei for 1 grade-hectare, while for the farmland that does not have cadastral indexes – 110 lei per hectare; for pastures that have cadastral indexes – 0.75 lei/grade-hectare, while for pastures that do not have cadastral indexes – 55 lei/hectare; for the land occupied by aquatic facilities – 115 lei/hectare. [- Who can benefit from exemptions for paying the realty tax and in what conditions?] - The exemptions are given to persons of retirement age, invalids, veterans and persons that participated in the liquidation of the consequences of the Chernobyl accident and their families, families with invalid children younger than 18, owners of houses or other buildings that are state property or public property of the territorial-administrative units and other groups. The exemption is offered for residential property, not for other property that is owned by the given persons. In rural areas, the exemption is offered for the property that is worth up to 30,000 lei. In Chisinau, the sum that is not taxed is 300,000 lei of the property’s value determined by the cadastral bodies, in the municipality of Balti – 156,000 lei, while in the municipality of Comrat – 122,000 lei. These are only several examples. [- What can you say about the property tax collections into the budget?] - The property tax collections are on the rise. The collections into the local budgets in 2006 were 232.6 million lei, including 44.8 million lei collected from private individuals. In 2008, the collections totaled 262 million lei, including 59 million lei from private individuals. The taxpayers want to benefit from the 15% reduction and try to pay the whole tax by June 30. In 2006, the taxpayers were exempted from paying 11.15 million lei, 3.3 million lei out of which for private individuals. The exemptions offered during the last year totaled 13 million lei, 4.3 million lei out of which were exemptions for private individuals. As regards the property tax collections this year, by April 30 the local budgets collected 35.5 million lei, including 9.6 million lei from individuals.