13.11.2018

“In the late afternoon, we had a meeting with the Prime Minister and what I intend to propose – in connection with the tension in society as regards the price of fuels – are amendments to Ordinance Н-18, more commonly known as the Ordinance on Fiscal Devices, whereby we will oblige each fuel retailer, when issuing a purchase receipt, to indicate the excise duty, the VAT and the price of the fuel without excise duty and VAT on separate lines. We can go further, by also including an indication of the profit margin of fuels in the purchase receipt, Minister of Finance Vladislav Goranov said the above in the Face to Face programme on BTV. In his opinion, this measure would contribute to greater transparency in fuel pricing in our country. According to Minister Goranov, with these legislative changes the claims and concerns of the public whether the market is functioning or there are tacit agreements or a cartel will be addressed in the purchase receipt in such a way that everyone will be able to compare the pricing of fuels in Bulgaria with that in other EU Member States or in oil producing countries.

“In the purchase receipt, we will point what portion of the fuel price will be paid to the state and what portion of it will remain for the trader”, the Finance Minister explained the idea. He pointed out that such a practice already existed, e.g. the detailed breakdown of pricing included in the invoices for electricity or for heat. Vladislav Goranov also said that the excise duty on liquid fuels in Bulgaria was the lowest possible according to the European Regulation.

In response to a question about the veto on the Corporate Income Tax Law put by the President today, Minister Goranov commented that he did not share the President’s reasoning for the veto as well as that the position on the veto was yet to be decided in Parliament. The provisions of the Local Taxes and Fees Law which concern the inclusion of an environmental component in the tax on older cars are a minor, first step to put us on the civilisational map of Europe as regards the role of each of us in society, the Minister said. According to him, the euro categories of cars take into account not only the pollution caused by the car, but also its safety on the road.  

With regard to the public debate on the insurance against civil liability, the Finance Minister explained that the debate on the insurance limits was intended to prevent a solid increase in the expenditure part of that system which would lead to failure of insurance companies and enormous increase in the price of the insurance against civil liability. “We suggest the ceiling for the insurance compensation to apply to the distant group of people and this on the condition that the relevant person proves in court the existence of an emotional connection and caused pain and suffering,” Goranov explained.

With regard to the proposals of the Financial Supervision Commission for implementation of the bonus-malus system, Minister Goranov said that in the debate we should first unite in deciding whether riskier drivers should pay more. In his view, what matters is to understand who is the subject of the risk – the driver or the car. The Minister is of the opinion that the insurance against civil liability pertained to the car because if the insurance had pertained to the driver then anyone with a driving licence would need to pay insurance against civil liability, regardless of whether s/he was driving and regardless of whether s/he had a car. “This topic has yet to be debated and finalised”, the Minister said.

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