site.btaNational Revenue Agency Finds Violations in 28 Restaurants, Shops, Hotels in Winter Resorts

The National Revenue Agency (NRA) found violations in a total of 28 restaurants, shops and hotels operating in the country's winter resorts, the institution said on Tuesday. The establishments were not reporting their sales correctly, it emerged after mass inspections in Bansko, Razlog, Dobrinishte, Banya, Borovets, Smolyan and Pamporovo.

The violations that the fiscal inspectors have revealed are: failure to issue receipts, discrepancy between the amounts marked on the fiscal device and the cash in the cash register, sales documents not meeting the requirements, etc.

Only during the first 3 days of the winter control campaign, January 3-5, the Agency's employees have checked 92 outlets, and the control actions in the winter resorts will continue until the end of the season.

As part of the campaign, the tax inspectors carried out so-called overt inspection, meaning that they identified themselves and were present in the restaurant or hotel for two days. They tracked receipts and then compared them with sales in previous periods. The checks also involved the so-called "secret client", through which it was undeniably established that some of the traders did not issue documents for the sales made, the release said.

In eight of the restaurants, the inspectors have also found incorrect VAT charging, which is now 20% as of 1 January, not 9% as it has been for the past few years. NRA officials have issued instructions to these retailers to make the necessary adjustments to their fiscal devices to comply with the law.

In one of the establishments, customers were issued a "service receipt" instead of a fiscal receipt. This is an attempt to evade the sales reporting requirements and the penalty for this is "sealing of the establishment".

The NRA reminded consumers that if they do not receive a fiscal receipt when paying for goods or services, they have the right to withhold payment to the merchant until a receipt is received. This is provided for in the Value Added Tax Act and aims to strengthen the fight against revenue evasion and unfair competition, as well as guaranteeing consumer rights.

Citizens can also control revenue reporting by using the Revenue Agency's mobile app, NRA Mobile, which scans the QR code on the receipt. It can be downloaded via the App Store for iOS phones or via Google Play. Reports of non-issuance of receipts, fake payment documents or those with missing details, as well as other tax and social security violations, can be submitted by calling the Information Centre on 0700 18 700 or by email to infocenter@nra.bg, the statement said.