Changes to VAT and excise duties have been proposed by the Ministry of Finance, to take effect from 1 January 2014.
The changes include: VAT
- introducing specific rules regulating transactions between non-corporate entities (eg consortia) and their participating partners (to comply with the ECJ ruling in case C-77/01). VAT would not be chargeable on transactions between the consortium partners and the consortium itself that are provided for in the consortium agreement
- introducing cash accounting schemes enabling the supplier, under certain circumstances, to pay VAT to the state when it receives payment for a supply and which establishes its right of deduction when it pays for a supply (implementing Directive 2010/45)
- temporarily applying the reverse charge mechanism to technical crop supplies such as wheat and soy beans (implementing Directive 2013/43) so that the obligation to pay VAT falls on the taxable person to whom the taxable supply is made
- changing the rules for determining the VAT-able base in relation to (a) barter deals; (b) the deemed supply of goods on VAT de-registration; and (c) the deemed supply of improvements to leased/rented assets on termination of lease/rental agreements
- introducing specific rules applicable to supplies of goods and services on the bridge over the river Danube between the towns of Vidin (Bulgaria) and Kalafat (Romania)
Excise duties and tax warehouses
- increasing the excise duties on heavy bunker fuel and natural gas used as a fuel or for heating (as required in the Treaty of Accession of Bulgaria and Romania to EU)
- applying to small winemakers the regime for deferred payment of excise duty (as required by Regulation 436 dated 26 May 2009)
- introducing a purposive order for deduction of excise duty against fuel vouchers as part of the approved by the EU Commission state aid of agricultural producers (also dependent on the European Commission giving its approval for state aid to agricultural producers to continue beyond 31 December 2014)
- introducing a requirement for tax payers to notify the customs authorities (not only the revenue authorities as currently is) when a procedure is begun for winding-up, transformation, transfer, liquidation or insolvency.