site.btaControversial Bulgaria-US Tax Compliance Agreement Ratified

Controversial Bulgaria-US Tax Compliance Agreement Ratified

Sofia, June 11 (BTA) - A tax compliance agreement between
Bulgaria and the United States was ratified by the National
Assembly in Sofia Thursday despite opposition from two
parliamentary groups which repeated their earlier claim that the
 instrument is not reciprocal.

The Agreement to Improve International Tax Compliance and to
Implement FATCA (the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act adopted
by the US Congress in 2010) was signed on December 5, 2014, and
moved by the Council of Ministers for ratification.

The second-reading vote on the ratification bill was 114 to 28,
with 3 abstentions.

The BSP-Left Bulgaria Coalition and the Ataka party objected to
the agreement, saying that it only goes one way. Roumen Gechev
(BSP) said before the vote that if the bill is approved,
Bulgaria will become the only EU member state to sign such a
humiliating law. Gechev noted that even third-world countries
have managed to put their tax compliance agreements with the US
on a reciprocal basis. "Does Bulgaria deserve to be treated like
 that by its partners?" he exclaimed.

Another Socialist, Chavdar Georgiev, proposed that the agreement
 become effective only for a year before it is updated and
signed again, but the proposal was defeated. The legislature
also dismissed a proposal to postpone the ratification.

Ilian Todorov (Ataka), too, argued that the agreement is
humiliating. "We are firmly opposed to the lack of reciprocity,"
 Todorov stated.