site.btaTax Revenues Up by BGN 685 Mln in First 50 Days of 2024 Y/Y

By 19 February 2024 the state collected BGN 675 million more in revenue than in the like period of 2024, Finance Minister Assen Vassilev told a news briefing at the Ministry. He did not give an exact amount, but said that tax revenues grew by 13.5%, social security by 9.2%. This, he said, shows the good work of the revenue administrations - the National Revenue Agency and the Customs Agency and pointed out that their proposed merger does not mean they are being given a bad grade.

"The timing is extremely convenient. Negotiations for accession to the Schengen area by land are continuing and we expect a decision on the land border within this year. This in principle implies a reorganization of customs and if such a reorganization is objectively to be done because of Schengen, why not organize it now," Vassilev said.

The organizational structure of the new revenue administration will be outlined next month and then the relevant bill will be submitted.

Earlier, the Finance Ministry said that Prime Minister Nikolay Denkov had appointed the current director of the Customs Agency Pavel Tonev as his advisor. He will assist with the creation of the single revenue agency. The current Deputy Executive Director of the agency, Petya Bankova, will become director of the Customs Agency.

The Finance Ministry has also issued a background, according to which among the EU member states with a single authority for tax and customs revenue collection are Denmark, Estonia, Ireland, Spain, Lithuania, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia and Hungary. Outside the EU, single revenue agencies also operate in the US and the UK.