THE establishment of a "tax police" has been approved by the Cabinet.
The Cabinet last week accepted a Finance Ministry proposal on the establishment of the new body, officially named the Agency for Fiscal Investigation.
According to the amendments to the Penal Code approved by the Cabinet, tax violations such as evasion will be punished by one to five years in jail and fines of between 5000 and 10 000 leva.
If the evasions are very serious and the unpaid taxes are more than 50 000 leva, the violator might spend up to six years in prison and pay a fine of more than 10 000 leva.
The amendments provide between five and 15 years imprisonment for members of organised criminal groups involved in tax-related crimes.
According to chief tax inspector Nikolai Popov, who presented the amendments together with Finance Minister Milen Velchev, jail sentences would be given only where it could be proven that the accused had knowingly evaded tax.
The Fiscal Investigation Agency is to report to the Finance Minister.
The agency will have the right to demand court orders for access to bank and insurance accounts of individuals and companies, as well as the use of special intelligence devices.
The fiscal agents will have the prerogatives of preliminary investigators and will investigate VAT draining, hiding of income, and corporate and financial frauds. They would also have the right to go undercover in companies that are being investigated.
According to Popov, the new agency will employ about 200 people and will start operating in 2005.
The proposal to set up a tax police was put forward by Velchev more than a year ago, but did not find favour among existing law enforcement agencies.
Interior Minister Georgi Petkanov has said on a number of occasions that a tax police was not necessary because there already was an economic police, with quite similar duties.
Velchev said the goal of the tax police was to shorten the period of investigation of financial crimes. Currently, it takes years for these to reach the courts.
- Business Staff
The Cabinet last week accepted a Finance Ministry proposal on the establishment of the new body, officially named the Agency for Fiscal Investigation.
According to the amendments to the Penal Code approved by the Cabinet, tax violations such as evasion will be punished by one to five years in jail and fines of between 5000 and 10 000 leva.
If the evasions are very serious and the unpaid taxes are more than 50 000 leva, the violator might spend up to six years in prison and pay a fine of more than 10 000 leva.
The amendments provide between five and 15 years imprisonment for members of organised criminal groups involved in tax-related crimes.
According to chief tax inspector Nikolai Popov, who presented the amendments together with Finance Minister Milen Velchev, jail sentences would be given only where it could be proven that the accused had knowingly evaded tax.
The Fiscal Investigation Agency is to report to the Finance Minister.
The agency will have the right to demand court orders for access to bank and insurance accounts of individuals and companies, as well as the use of special intelligence devices.
The fiscal agents will have the prerogatives of preliminary investigators and will investigate VAT draining, hiding of income, and corporate and financial frauds. They would also have the right to go undercover in companies that are being investigated.
According to Popov, the new agency will employ about 200 people and will start operating in 2005.
The proposal to set up a tax police was put forward by Velchev more than a year ago, but did not find favour among existing law enforcement agencies.
Interior Minister Georgi Petkanov has said on a number of occasions that a tax police was not necessary because there already was an economic police, with quite similar duties.
Velchev said the goal of the tax police was to shorten the period of investigation of financial crimes. Currently, it takes years for these to reach the courts.
- Business Staff
