REAL GREY ECONOMY
The grey economy was no longer something isolated in Bulgaria. In some sectors it covered more than 80 per cent of the economy, Bulgarian Industrial Association (BIA) chairperson Bozhidar Danev told a May 2 news conference, part of the initiative In The Daylight, started by the BIA and Bulgarian-language media.

“Real incomes are much higher than thoe officially declared. The practice of hiding revenues is most serious in the field of construction, tourism, trade and finances,” Danev said. Revenues are concealed not only by legal entities but also by employers, employees, citizens and institutions. The grey economy has hidden turnovers serious in size - non-issued payment orders, which are a mass practice, invoicing below the real price of goods and services, significantly lowered declared prices for real estate, shares and assets sales, and lowered contract values.

FLAT TAX
It won’t be surprising if in a couple of years Bulgaria introduces a flat 10-per cent tax on incomes, Georgi Angelov, senior economist at Open Society Institute, said, as quoted by Pari daily. Radical reforms are carried out more easily in countries with radical problems, such as those in Eastern Europe.

A quarter of the countries in Europe levy a flat tax. The first to introduce a flat tax rate was Estonia – 26 per cent in 1994. The tax has been cut to 22 per cent already and the fashion has spread to neighbouring countries like Lithuania, Latvia, Russia and Ukraine. The example has been followed by Slovakia, Romania, Georgia, Serbia and Macedonia, with the Czech Republic and Albania expected to apply the lowest rate of 10 per cent from 2008. According to Angelov, one of the reasons for that is that Bulgaria has so far focused on reducing the corporate tax. Now that the tax has been cut to 10 per cent, the logical step is to reduce labour taxation by implementing a single rate. Just a few years ago, a 10 per cent tax was wishful thinking, but now it is a fact.

SALARIES
Salaries in Bulgaria’s tourist sector are among the lowest in the country, data of consultancy agency JobTiger showed. Nearly 75 per cent of specialists working in the sector earn less than 500 leva a month, Dnevnik daily reported. Healthcare, administration and energy feature among the lowest paid sectors in Bulgaria. Half of all potential employers offer salaries of up to 400 leva. One fourth of employers offer salaries between 400 and 500 leva and only 25 per cent have wages exceeding 500 leva. Information technologies, software, construction, architecture, design and telecommunications turn out to be the sectors offering the highest salaries in the country. Half of the employees in these sectors get an average monthly payment of between 1000 and 1200 leva. Employees in the law sector get the highest salaries in the country. A total of 25 per cent of the specialists in the sector earn more than 3000 leva a month.