Legalisation of personal capital aims at punishing those who invested remittances – experts

The legalisation of the capital of individual persons means that the state will punish those who invested the money coming from remittances, the experts of the Institute for Development and Social Initiatives (IDIS) “Viitorul” consider. According to the experts, by obliging these persons to pay 5% of the value of the owned goods is in fact a punishment for those who made rational decisions by going to work abroad, keeping the moral commitment to support their families. The experts say that, as long as an asset is not sold, there is no legal reason to apply a higher value than the one declared by the owner of the asset. And in the situation when there is no taxation practice in what concerns the goods coming from remittances, the experts say, it is difficult to imagine by what means could individuals declare their legally owned properties. At present, the remittances transferred to Moldova are estimated at about MDL 70 bln, and they are considered a sort of “security belt” for individuals, abandoned in transition. The remittances are not reaching the banking system and are not a way to complete the budget, as they are guarantees of personal survival, the experts say. At the same time they consider that the increase of the capital and the remittances coming from abroad are today the umbrella which protects the businessmen and the private persons from the risks of the market (inflation, instability of the currency rate, access on the market). The economic entities and the population have sufficient instruments to prove the legal source of the owned goods. All the problems are due to the credibility of the steps made by the state and the guarantees it offers. There should be stimulants and attractive arguments in order to motivate the citizen – who has for many years suspected the banks and the state of the fact that they want to steal money – to legalise the capital, and also there should be undertaken actions aimed at correctly informing the public about what types of capital are addressed in the course of the specific amnesty process. The experts of IDIS Viitorul consider that the amnesty of the capital of individuals is premature. The lack of a taxation process in what concerns the capital increase in case of individual persons transforms into populism any advice to legalise the value of owned material assets, and without any elements specific to the amnesty of the capital, the citizens will not be convinced about the goodwill of the initiatives of the state and will not be economically motivated. As a confirmation is the fact that until now there were no precedents on paying taxes for the increase of the capital. And if the state would insist upon applying these taxes, the real estate market would immediately become unofficial. The specialists say that the lack of clear messages from authorities and any immoderate actions can lead to misbalance on the real estate market. The owned financial resources can be easily transformed into real estate assets and drawn out from the action of the law. In light of this situation, the experts consider that the individual persons should not be subject to amnesty and the law should refer only to the economic entities. Starting 2000, the value of the real estate assets increased sevenfold, which is a guarantee for the companies regarding this type of capitalisation. Even if they have mostly used cash for paying the cost of the purchased goods, and their balance value is insignificant, the economic entities have a strong alibi in case of economic instability on the market. The value of the real estate assets increased so much, that it is hard to say whether it is about underground capital, which should be legalised, or the simple increase of the capital, which is taxed according to the present legal framework, the experts of the Institute for Development and Social Initiatives (IDIS) “Viitorul” say.