“Pre-war” problems have returned.
In the first three months of the current year, the Council of the Business Ombudsman received 345 appeals from businesses, of which the institution closed 162 cases. At the same time, they state that “pre-war” business problems have again returned to the Council’s agenda, the corresponding report says.
Tax issues (60%), actions of law enforcement agencies (14%) and customs issues (7%) were again in the top 3 business concerns.
It is noted that this year the Council has already managed to conduct an investigation into tax audits, which were the main source of complaints from businesses. It turned out that 99+% of tax revenues are provided precisely at the expense of voluntary payment of taxes, and the share of revenues from surcharges determined as a result of inspections did not even reach 1% over the past 6 years.
“The business community perceives tax audits as a fiscal and punitive tool of the state. This is evidenced by the low level of trust in both the central office of the DPS – 19% and regional tax authorities – 13%,” the report says.
