Sofia Municipality and the Bulgarian National Radio Realized that the Radio has not Paid Garbage Tax for 20 Years

In January next year, the Bulgarian National Radio (BNR) will pay a garbage fee to Sofia Municipality for the first time since 1997, reports Dnevnik.

The reason for not doing so in the last 20 years is that since the entry into force of the Local Taxes and Fees Act in 1997 the management of the radio has not fulfilled its obligation to declare the building on Dragan Tsankov Blvd in the municipality. The administration did not find out about this because the municipal information system had no connection with the Property Register.

This is understood by BNR and Sofia Municipality replies to "Dnevnik". The reason was a repayment plan voted by the municipal council on Thursday so that the will pay about BGN 1.9 million due for a garbage fee for the period from 2013 to 2018 - the length of the limitation for unpaid taxes and fees. BNR is managing its building on "Dragan Tsankov" Blvd. and "garage-warehouse" on Tsarigradsko shosse Blvd. The properties are public state property, in which case the fee is due to the owner and the public media is exempt from the building tax.

It is the responsibility of each owner to declare their ownership within a certain period, said Deputy Mayor of Finance Doncho Barbalov. "The BNR's management has no information for what reason this obligation has not been fulfilled over the years," replied the radio. The current General Director of the Radio Alexander Velev has been in office since 1998 (one year after the local taxes came into force) until 2001.

Every year the municipality reviews the duties of state and municipal institutions and offices in the city. In these inspections, it understands whether an owner has declared his property and what his obligations are for local taxes and charges,...