Tax authorities in Sofia have warned that they have "mechanisms" to identify cases of unpaid value-added tax (VAT).
 
In a media statement on August 24 2009, the metropolitan directorate in Sofia of the National Revenue Agency said that it was investigating individuals suspected of being liable for VAT but who had failed to pay.
 
These included people in freelance professions and who had income from rental and sale of property.
 
Some cases had been completed and fines from 500 to 5000 leva had been imposed. Some investigations had established that in spite of initial suspicions, some of those probed had not been liable to pay VAT.
 
The law governing mandatory registration for VAT says that all natural and juristic persons whose activities generate a turnover of more than 50 000 leva a year should register.
 
The National Revenue Agency said that the check-ups were part of a wider initiative by the agency to strengthen control and to improve revenue collection.
 
The head of the agency’s metropolitan directorate in Sofia, Svetlana Paunova, said that the law made no distinction between natural and juristic persons in the requirement to register after the threshold for mandatory VAT registration had been reached.
 
After the new Government headed by Prime Minister Boiko Borissov took office, Finance Minister and Deputy Minister Simeon Djankov has spoken out sharply against tax evasion, especially in the context of the Budget deficit which is aggravated by failure to pay tax, and the National Revenue Agency has responded by vowing to keep up the pressure to ensure all taxes due are collected.