Loans. According to a statement released by the National Revenue Agency (NRA), loans of more than 5000 leva will have to be reported in people's personal income tax declarations for 2010. This rule is included in the law on income tax adopted by the Cabinet which, however, has still to be approved by Parliament
The NRA asked for the amendments because "personal loans" were often used by taxpayers to explain the source of their incomes. It was an explanation given on every second inspection of people's incomes when tax inspectors register discrepancies between a person's legally declared income and his or her living standard.
Another problem the NRA encountered when performing tax checks was that very often contracts had not been verified by a notary. Therefore there was no proof of bank transfers between the respective parties. According to the NRA, personal loans in Bulgaria amounted to about 2.7 billion leva. Almost all of these loans, however, were fake and concluded with the specific purpose of avoiding taxation.
Property tax. The Bulgarian government has approved a proposal to raise the maximum property tax rate from 0.2% to 0.25% of the property appraisal. In addition to the increase the property transaction tax cap rises from 2.6% to 3%.
Moreover, the threshold for properties exempt from taxation will be lowered to a property appraisal of 1680 leva from the current 2520 leva. The aim is to increase the revenue of small municipalities where appraisals are low and many property owners pay no property taxes.
Gambling taxes. The government also approved a plan to introduce identical tax rates for all gambling games. Thus, the state lottery and private betting bookmaker Eurofootball will pay 12% instead of 10% of their betting turnover.