Veaceslav Ionita: Those who spend less than 25,000 lei per month can feel at ease

The tax authority will not have the right to target people whose annual expenses, or more precisely the difference between what they declare in their income returns and what they spend, is less than 300,000 lei, said MP Veaceslav Ionita in an interview for Radio Europa Libera, explaining the new indirect methods of determining individual incomes, Info-Prim Neo reports. According to the MP, the indirect determination of incomes is a fiscal administration policy which aims at taxing rich people whilst not burdening people with modest incomes. “Those who spend less than 25,000 lei per month, please be happy and enjoy life. Also, those who spend more, but pay taxes, live happily and have no worries too. Questions will only arise regarding those who spend more than 25,000 lei per month, but failed to pay their taxes. The tax authority will simply ask in a friendly manner: pardon us, but do you pay income taxes like the rest of Moldovans? Just as it was in the ad: “Pay the tax and sleep at ease!”, said the MP. Veaceslav Ionita says that the Law has all the tools to protect the citizens. “When the tax authority believes that someone has certain expenses amounting to the sums I mentioned, i.e. no smaller than 100,000 lei for a certain asset, be it a travel voucher or insurance policy, the tax authority immediately inspects the person to detect whether the expenses are not covered by his/her expenses. If the authority does detect that it is true, the second step is to verify if the person falls within the limit of current expenses, which is, if I’m not mistaken, 500,000 lei of current annual expenses. Thus, it means that the tax authority checks whether the person spends more than 30,000 lei monthly, without having a justifiable origin for the income. Only afterward will the tax authority ask the simple question: please, tell us, did you pay your taxes on those expenses, or did you not? If the person spends less than 30,000 lei, the tax authority has no right to ask questions”, explained Veaceslav Ionita. The MP admits that the indirect expense monitoring is difficult to implement, and expects that in the next five years it would yield at least some results. “Throughout these five years we will work on this model, alongside the tax authority, the Ministry of Finance, and Parliament. I want to reiterate one simple thing: we, and every citizen of Moldova, are appalled upon hearing that people with luxurious summer houses worth millions of euros, with cars worth hundreds of thousands of euros, don’t pay any taxes, whereas the several hundred thousands of public sector employees pay taxes, regardless of their poverty; they’re revolting, and it’s an absolutely natural revolt”, remarked the MP. Starting 2013, indirect methods of determining income will be applied to individuals who earn more than 1 million lei a year without being engaged in entrepreneurial activities, or who have individual expenses exceeding 500,000 lei. Individuals who possessed large funds as of 1 January 2012 are to submit a declaration by the end of the year to avoid their taxation.