Publication of the list of largest tax debtors yields results

The list of the largest tax debtors in BiH was publicly published at the beginning of the year after the Law on Amendments to the Law on Indirect Taxation Procedure entered into force, writes Patria. The legal basis that gave the Indirect Taxation Authority the possibility to publicly publish all indirect tax debtors has yielded certain results when it comes to the collection of certain debts, claims the Indirect Taxation Authority of BiH.

- Some of the taxpayers have fully or partially settled their debts, some of which were several years old. Among the taxpayers who paid the largest amounts of debt are: Sarajevska pivara, which paid 11,534,536 KM, Klas d.d., which paid 1,671,191 KM, KJKP Gras d.d. Sarajevo, which paid 631,826 KM, Pivara Tuzla d.d., which paid 592,297 KM, Public Enterprise Forest Management Company Zenica-Doboj Canton, which paid a debt of 578,238 KM, MS – Global Investment and Trading Company d.o.o. Sarajevo, which paid a debt of 463,566 KM – Ratko Kovačević, spokesperson for the ITA, told Patria.

He further noted that the fact that the total amount of debts for reported but unpaid VAT as of the end of August 2014 amounts to 312 million KM has not decreased.

- However, the main reason is that for all those who do not pay their VAT debts, default interest accrues every month, which is not negligible on millions of amounts. From the beginning of the application of the VAT Law in BiH, i.e., from January 1, 2006, to August 31, 2014, the debt for reported but unpaid VAT amounted to 816 million KM. In addition, the subsequent enforcement burden amounted to 77 million KM – Kovačević added.

Out of the total amount of debt and subsequent enforcement burden, 581 million KM has been collected to date, so the current debts amount to 312 million KM, owed by 9,891 taxpayers from BiH.

- These current debts are in the process of forced collection. The debt collection rate is 65.05 percent. During the period 2006-2014, the ITA calculated a total of 68 million KM in default interest, and to date, 51 million KM in default interest has been collected, which amounts to 0.04 percent of the principal debt for the period of delay – Kovačević added.