Tax Administration as a Tool of Persecution: Who Pays the Price for Nikšić's Government and the Incompetence of Public Company Directors!?

By: Rasim Belko @rasimbelko

In a statement from January 16, the Tax Administration of the Federation of BiH stated that during a two-day inspection, they issued fines of approximately 650,000 KM for various irregularities. This was the second two-day operation by inspectors on the orders of imposed federal Prime Minister Nermin Nikšić.

The same Nikšić who, through a secret operation of the central committee of the FBiH Government, which includes Vojin Mijatović and Toni Kraljević besides him, maximally burdened employers by increasing the minimum wage, and thus contributions on it.

Then, the head of the central committee of the FBiH Government, Nermin Nikšić, ordered acting director of the Tax Administration, Admir Omerbašić, at a press conference to persecute employers in the real sector so that they would not de-register workers due to Nikšić's levy.

In addition to these checks, tax inspectors did not miss opportunities to issue fines along the way, which they then boast about in press releases. It is not a problem to punish those who are fishing in the murky waters of the grey economy, but the persecution ordered by Nikšić is not about reducing the grey economy, but rather about pressure so that he, as the federal marshal with Schmidt's certificate, would be obeyed by rebellious employers.

The problem lies in the fact that even in the rare moments when tax inspectors dare to enter public companies under the control of the FBiH Government, we, the taxpayers, pay the fines, and the political points are bought by the central committee of the FBiH Government by paying fines with our money and covering the losses of the managers they appoint.

While the Tax Administration bombards us with information about successful operations ordered by Nikšić and urges us to ask for fiscal receipts with every purchase, companies whose budgets we all fill are accumulating debts, and we are not getting anywhere near the value for the money pumped into them.

At the same time, at the top of the list of the largest debtors to the Tax Administration are public companies managed by cadres appointed by the FBiH Government. We are talking about hundreds of millions in debt, and the Tax Administration does not initiate, or does not do so publicly as it does against the real sector, proceedings against these companies.

When it does initiate them, then Nikšić and the central committee open their wallets and pay the incompetence of the directors they appoint with our money.

If we add to all this the extravagance in which Nikšić and his FBiH Government have excelled, and the loans they have not hesitated to take, it is clear where the need comes from to try to buy peace from the workers at the expense of employers through the doctrine of communist governance and secret decisions. And when employers rebel against a decision that will force most of them to lay off workers and reduce business volumes, which directly means less money in the budget, then Nikšić resorts to tax cowboys who are supposed to discipline the disobedient.

Moreover, Nikšić must not send tax inspectors to betting shops that are on the list of debtors of the FBiH Tax Administration. Just as these inspectors must not investigate debts and illegal activities too much in the south, because that would anger an old communist named Dragan Čović, and Nikšić would be in trouble.

And in the south, SKB Mostar owes more than a hundred million, while the debts of betting shops range from tens of thousands to tens of millions of KM.

Nikšić's tax officials will not even peek into the Kanton Sarajevo to examine the debt situation of KJKP “Gras” and similar public companies, because Nikšić's allies are in power there, and it's not appropriate to send inspectors to one's own cadres.

Therefore, employers and all of us, taxpayers, are obliged to respect the laws and fulfill our obligations, while privileged friends of Nikšić's comrades and well-mannered directors appointed by Nikšić & Co. can accumulate and not repay debts for years.

And when you add to all this the attempt by the FBiH Government and the relevant minister Adnan Delić to appeal to the conscience of people with disabilities and explain that if they retain their rights under the current law, they would endanger the budget, it becomes clear how anti-people and anti-human the current government is.

At the same time, Delić explains that he proposed a better solution than the existing one, only people with disabilities would receive less money.

In terms of time, not much is left until the mandate of the imposed Government and its central committee expires, but by all accounts, they have too much time left to push us towards the deepest bottom of the pit they have been digging since they were imposed.

It is up to us to decide whether we will support ourselves and our own better future, or whether we will continue to support and admire the citizens of countries in the near and far surroundings who organize well and fight for their rights from the streets.