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Relations Between European Law and Taxation in Bulgaria

Received: 2 December 2022     Accepted: 26 December 2022     Published: 9 January 2023
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Abstract

The Republic of Bulgaria joined the European Union (EU) in 2007. The aim of this article is to review the impact of European law on the Bulgarian tax system. As the topic is very broad, the study focuses on the Constitution on the one hand and certain tax statutes on the other. Attention is also paid to the latest challenges in the field of international taxation. First, the subject of the study is the amendments made to the constitutional provisions related to tax matters. In discussing them, it is necessary to use a broader concept of European law, since the European Charter of Local Self-Government was adopted by the Council of Europe. Articles 9 (1), 9 (2) and 9 (3) of the Charter set out important principles of self-government that influence the decision-making process on what amendments to undertake to the Constitution. Second, for the purposes of this article, the recent changes in the area of indirect taxation are taken into account, as indirect taxes have been harmonized with the VAT Directive transposed into the Bulgarian Value Added Tax Act (VATA). EU legislation also governs excise duties, which are levied on alcoholic beverages, tobacco and energy products. The provisions of Directive 2008/118/EC on the general arrangements for excise duty have been transposed into the Bulgarian Excise Duties and Tax Warehouses Act (EDWA). However, excise duties need a separate in-depth study. For this reason, they remain outside the scope of this article. Third, changes have been made in the area of direct taxation. A key objective of the EU is the creation of a common market, which implies the removal of obstacles to the free movement of goods, persons, services and capital between Member States. The Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) therefore contains provisions empowering the Union to introduce directives in the field of direct taxation. Nevertheless, as bilateral tax agreements also apply in the same area, the article sheds light on the conflicts between them and EU directives, as they are sometimes based on different legal principles.

Published in International Journal of Law and Society (Volume 6, Issue 1)
DOI 10.11648/j.ijls.20230601.13
Page(s) 16-22
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2023. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Constitution of the Republic of Bulgaria, Central and Local Authorities, Value Added Tax (VAT), Corporate Income Tax (CIT)

References
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[30] EU: Council Directive (EU) 2017/2455 of 5 Dec. 2017 amending Directive 2006/112/EC and Directive 2009/132/EC as regards certain value added tax obligations for supplies of services and distance sales of goods, EUR-Lex - 32017L2455 - EN - EUR-Lex (europa.eu), accessed 1 November 2022.
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[32] EU: Council Directive (EU) 2016/1164 of 12 July 2016 laying down rules against tax avoidance practices that directly affect the functioning of the internal market (OJ L 193, 19.7.2016, p. 1–14), http://data.europa.eu/eli/dir/2016/1164/oj, accessed 30 November 2022.
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    Ganeta Minkova. (2023). Relations Between European Law and Taxation in Bulgaria. International Journal of Law and Society, 6(1), 16-22. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijls.20230601.13

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    Ganeta Minkova. Relations Between European Law and Taxation in Bulgaria. Int. J. Law Soc. 2023, 6(1), 16-22. doi: 10.11648/j.ijls.20230601.13

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    Ganeta Minkova. Relations Between European Law and Taxation in Bulgaria. Int J Law Soc. 2023;6(1):16-22. doi: 10.11648/j.ijls.20230601.13

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  • @article{10.11648/j.ijls.20230601.13,
      author = {Ganeta Minkova},
      title = {Relations Between European Law and Taxation in Bulgaria},
      journal = {International Journal of Law and Society},
      volume = {6},
      number = {1},
      pages = {16-22},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ijls.20230601.13},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijls.20230601.13},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijls.20230601.13},
      abstract = {The Republic of Bulgaria joined the European Union (EU) in 2007. The aim of this article is to review the impact of European law on the Bulgarian tax system. As the topic is very broad, the study focuses on the Constitution on the one hand and certain tax statutes on the other. Attention is also paid to the latest challenges in the field of international taxation. First, the subject of the study is the amendments made to the constitutional provisions related to tax matters. In discussing them, it is necessary to use a broader concept of European law, since the European Charter of Local Self-Government was adopted by the Council of Europe. Articles 9 (1), 9 (2) and 9 (3) of the Charter set out important principles of self-government that influence the decision-making process on what amendments to undertake to the Constitution. Second, for the purposes of this article, the recent changes in the area of indirect taxation are taken into account, as indirect taxes have been harmonized with the VAT Directive transposed into the Bulgarian Value Added Tax Act (VATA). EU legislation also governs excise duties, which are levied on alcoholic beverages, tobacco and energy products. The provisions of Directive 2008/118/EC on the general arrangements for excise duty have been transposed into the Bulgarian Excise Duties and Tax Warehouses Act (EDWA). However, excise duties need a separate in-depth study. For this reason, they remain outside the scope of this article. Third, changes have been made in the area of direct taxation. A key objective of the EU is the creation of a common market, which implies the removal of obstacles to the free movement of goods, persons, services and capital between Member States. The Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) therefore contains provisions empowering the Union to introduce directives in the field of direct taxation. Nevertheless, as bilateral tax agreements also apply in the same area, the article sheds light on the conflicts between them and EU directives, as they are sometimes based on different legal principles.},
     year = {2023}
    }
    

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    AB  - The Republic of Bulgaria joined the European Union (EU) in 2007. The aim of this article is to review the impact of European law on the Bulgarian tax system. As the topic is very broad, the study focuses on the Constitution on the one hand and certain tax statutes on the other. Attention is also paid to the latest challenges in the field of international taxation. First, the subject of the study is the amendments made to the constitutional provisions related to tax matters. In discussing them, it is necessary to use a broader concept of European law, since the European Charter of Local Self-Government was adopted by the Council of Europe. Articles 9 (1), 9 (2) and 9 (3) of the Charter set out important principles of self-government that influence the decision-making process on what amendments to undertake to the Constitution. Second, for the purposes of this article, the recent changes in the area of indirect taxation are taken into account, as indirect taxes have been harmonized with the VAT Directive transposed into the Bulgarian Value Added Tax Act (VATA). EU legislation also governs excise duties, which are levied on alcoholic beverages, tobacco and energy products. The provisions of Directive 2008/118/EC on the general arrangements for excise duty have been transposed into the Bulgarian Excise Duties and Tax Warehouses Act (EDWA). However, excise duties need a separate in-depth study. For this reason, they remain outside the scope of this article. Third, changes have been made in the area of direct taxation. A key objective of the EU is the creation of a common market, which implies the removal of obstacles to the free movement of goods, persons, services and capital between Member States. The Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) therefore contains provisions empowering the Union to introduce directives in the field of direct taxation. Nevertheless, as bilateral tax agreements also apply in the same area, the article sheds light on the conflicts between them and EU directives, as they are sometimes based on different legal principles.
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Author Information
  • Institute of the State and the Law, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Sofia, Bulgaria

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