11.01.2013

The Ministry of Finance has published on its website bills to amend the Tax and Social Security Procedure Code (TSSPC) and the Criminal Procedure Code (CPC). Thereby an option is proposed to enhance the powers of the revenue authorities to perform acts of investigation, namely to interrogate, make observations, searches and seizures under the order and procedures of the CPC in urgent cases. Urgent tax investigation is required by the revenue authorities both for exercising the functions assigned to them by the law to conduct examinations and audits and for prevention, counteraction and detection of tax fraud. Enhanced powers shall be vested only by order of the National Revenue Agency Executive Director and may be exercised only by the appointed in the order revenue authorities in cases of urgency.

The enhanced powers of the revenue authorities in relation to interrogations, observations, searches and seizures and the related thereto procedural actions will be subject to judicial control and the protocol for urgent actions will be subject to approval by the court.

In order to ensure the rights of the obligated persons tax investigation may be performed only in case of impeding or hindering proceedings to ascertain tax and social security liabilities or in case there are data that any facts and circumstances relevant to the proceedings are concealed.

The evidence collected by the NRA revenue authorities shall be used in the investigation of crimes related to tax fraud, money laundering and bribery of resident and non-resident officials that have extremely negative impact both on the state budget and on the society and economy as a whole.

The expected effects of proposed amendments are, in addition to prevention of crimes against the tax and financial system, collection in the shortest possible time of evidence that could be used by the bodies entrusted with pre-trial proceedings and shortening the time of criminal proceedings via availing of the expertise of the revenue authorities.