Income distribution

By Prokopis Hatzinikolaou

The government is preparing a taxation overhaul that will provide for one set of brackets for all taxable incomes regardless of source. It is also planning to implement a large property tax (LPT) that will concern not only real estate but also big bank deposits, works of art and other investment tools, with a tax-free threshold of 300,000 euros.

Prime Minister Victor Ponta announced on Thursday a raise of the minimum gross wage to 1,200 lei in 2016, following an advance to 1,050 lei in July this year. (current exchange rate 1 leu = 0.225 euros).

Photo credit: (c) ADRIAN CUBA / AGERPRES FLOW

Bulgaria's Finance Ministry announced that each year around 1.2 million tonnes of diesel are not declared to the revenue agencies, which amounts to 36.2 % of the fuel consumption in the country.

The Ministry estimates that the losses to the budget from tax evasion and avoidance of excise duties amount to BGN 1.1 - 1.2 B, electronic daily Dnevnik reports.

The unemployment rate in Romania hit 5.29 percent at a national level at end-Dec., by 0.11 percent higher than in Nov. and by 0.36 percentage points lower than at end-Dec. 2013, says a release sent by the National Employment Agency to AGERPRES on Thursday.

Photo credit: (c) CONSTANTIN DUMA / AGERPRES ARCHIVE

By Tasos Telloglou

The agreement between Greece and the United States Internal Revenue Service, providing for the mutual exchange of data regarding bank deposits, is in its final stretch.

Wealth accumulated by the richest one percent will exceed that of the other 99 percent in 2016, the Oxfam charity said Jan. 19, ahead of the annual meeting of the world's most powerful at Davos, Switzerland.
      

The low minimum wage disincentivises people from working and they prefer to live on benefits, according to Ivaylo Kalfin, Bulgaria's Minister of Labor and Social Policy.

Over a third of Greek households (34.4 percent) had an annual income of no more that 10,000 euros last year, according to a survey conducted by the Hellenic Confederation of Professionals, Craftsmen and Merchants (GSEVEE).

As of January 5, Monday, natural persons can submit their tax return forms to Bulgaria's National Revenue Agency, officials have announced.  

The deadline for tax statements and payment is April 30. Declarations can be sent online using an e-signature.

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