TAX NEWS - June 2010

Bulgaria Tax: Bulgarian Tax Agents Keep Eye on Beach Resorts for Tax Evasion

Bulgarian Revenue Agency and Police will strictly monitor the country's beach resorts to prevent tax evasion.

Bulgaria's National Revenue Agency (NRA) opens Wednesday a permanent office at the airport in the Black Sea city of Burgas.

The goal is to monitor all companies providing travel and vacation services – tour operators, travel agencies, carriers, and hotel owners, the NRA Burgas Regional Directorate informs.

The campaign will last all through the summer and will involve not only NRA agents, but the police and the Commission for Consumer Protection.

All tour operators are to fill at the airport information about the number of tourists they are meeting, the carriers they use, the hotels where guests will be accommodated. The data will be compared with the one from hotels and transportation companies.

The Regional Police Directorate says hotel owners from Bulgaria's largest summer resort "Sunny Beach" have paid BGN 1.4 M in taxes for the 2009 season while estimates show that the tax should have been at least BGN 10 M even with only 50% of beds taken by tourists.

The Commission for Consumer Protection has already opened offices in Bulgaria's beach resorts and is checking hotels, restaurants and beach establishments.