BiH Farmers Fill Budget with 300 Million KM, and After New Excise Law That Sum Will Increase

Farmers in Bosnia and Herzegovina have announced that from next year they will fill the state coffers with more than 300 million KM, because after the state abolishes excise duties on „blue diesel“, they will increase investments in production.

Vladimir Usorac, president of the Association of Agricultural Producers-Dairy Farmers of Republika Srpska, told the Patria news agency that after the Parliament of Bosnia and Herzegovina passes the law on abolishing excise duties on blue diesel as well as road tolls, the liter of diesel that farmers use for their machines and trucks will become cheaper by about 0.70 KM.

The money saved on fuel, Usorac says, agricultural producers will invest in expanding production, from which the state, through VAT, will recover the lost money and also earn additional revenue.

The Management Board of the Indirect Taxation Authority of BiH, at the end of this week, adopted the Draft amendments to the Law on Excise Duties in BiH related to “blue diesel” and forwarded them to the competent institutions of the entities and BiH. Farmers expect the new law to come into force as soon as the formation of state authorities in BiH is completed.

- Mines, as well as some other industrial producers in BiH, are exempt from paying excise duties on "blue diesel" as well as road tolls, but agricultural producers have not had these benefits so far – Usorac told Patria.

- But, here we are, we managed to agree with representatives of the authorities to abolish these levies for agricultural producers as well.

Usorac says that it may seem now that the state will initially lose from the decision to abolish excise duties on „blue diesel“, but that is not the case. Agricultural producers will return multiple times more to the state coffers, because the larger volume of production and the VAT they pay will significantly increase.

About 300 million KM flows into the coffers of Bosnia and Herzegovina annually from primary agricultural production alone, and that sum will be further increased after the new excise law in BiH comes into force, farmers promise, NAP writes.