THE Government approved on November 25 the new vignette system which will replace the current road tax from January 1, 2005.
The annual vignette charges on motor cars and vehicles with up to eight seats will be 54 leva from January 1. The monthly charge will be 10 leva and the weekly charge will be four leva.
Until January 1, 2007, charges for the use of road infrastructure will be the same for Bulgarian and foreign vehicles and will be in line with Directive 1999/62 of the European Commission.
In 2006, the annual vignette charge will be 58 leva, the monthly charge will be 11 leva, and the weekly charge will be 4.50 leva.
In 2007, the annual vignette charge will be 63 leva, the monthly charge will be 12 leva, and the weekly charge will be five leva.
The vignette charges for foreign registered motor cars and passenger vehicles with up to eight seats will be as follows 59 euro a year, 10 euro a month, four euro a week in 2005 and 2006. In 2007, they will be: 32 euro a year, six euro a month and 2.50 euro a week.
The charges for Bulgarian-registered and foreign heavy goods vehicles with more than two axles, special construction vehicles, crane trucks and other heavy duty trucks are shown in the table below.
The new toll fee for foreign heavy vehicles in 2005 represents a cut of 100 euro, since this year they are paying 689 euro. The price for Bulgarian trucks remains unchanged in 2005. The government also approved a list of the toll roads in the country. It includes the highways Hemus, Trakia, Struma and Cherno More, as well as the first-class roads E-79, E-70, E-83, E-772, E-85, E-871, E773, E-80/E85 and E-87.
In another development on November 26, a bill amending and supplementing the Value Added Tax Act was passed by Parliament. The lawmakers voted a motion by MPs of the ruling National Movement Simeon II (NMSII) to give traders the right to credit for input tax on imported new cars purchased after January 1, 2005.
Defending the motion, the NMSII's Mariana Kostadinova said it was intended to support medium-sized businesses, improve traffic safety and reduce environmental pollution by encouraging the import of new cars.
Finance Minister Milen Velchev said his ministry had chosen not to take sides in respect of this motion because it has disadvantages as well as advantages. Such a change would obviously entail a considerable loss of national budget revenue, he said. In the case of importing new cars for corporate buyers, the annual loss could be up to 64 million leva.
In earlier sessions debating VAT Act revisions, Parliament defeated a motion to lower the VAT rate to 18 per cent from 20 per cent. The MPs also turned down proposals for differentiated rates for some products, including foods, medicines, textbooks and teaching aids, and works of literature by Bulgarian authors.
One of the changes allows persons registered under the VAT Act to take court action for compensation if input tax is not refunded to them when due.
The legislature defeated motions by MPs of the opposition Coalition For Bulgaria and Union of Democratic Forces to shorten the time limit for input tax recovery from three to two months.
The annual vignette charges on motor cars and vehicles with up to eight seats will be 54 leva from January 1. The monthly charge will be 10 leva and the weekly charge will be four leva.
Until January 1, 2007, charges for the use of road infrastructure will be the same for Bulgarian and foreign vehicles and will be in line with Directive 1999/62 of the European Commission.
In 2006, the annual vignette charge will be 58 leva, the monthly charge will be 11 leva, and the weekly charge will be 4.50 leva.
In 2007, the annual vignette charge will be 63 leva, the monthly charge will be 12 leva, and the weekly charge will be five leva.
The vignette charges for foreign registered motor cars and passenger vehicles with up to eight seats will be as follows 59 euro a year, 10 euro a month, four euro a week in 2005 and 2006. In 2007, they will be: 32 euro a year, six euro a month and 2.50 euro a week.
The charges for Bulgarian-registered and foreign heavy goods vehicles with more than two axles, special construction vehicles, crane trucks and other heavy duty trucks are shown in the table below.
The new toll fee for foreign heavy vehicles in 2005 represents a cut of 100 euro, since this year they are paying 689 euro. The price for Bulgarian trucks remains unchanged in 2005. The government also approved a list of the toll roads in the country. It includes the highways Hemus, Trakia, Struma and Cherno More, as well as the first-class roads E-79, E-70, E-83, E-772, E-85, E-871, E773, E-80/E85 and E-87.
In another development on November 26, a bill amending and supplementing the Value Added Tax Act was passed by Parliament. The lawmakers voted a motion by MPs of the ruling National Movement Simeon II (NMSII) to give traders the right to credit for input tax on imported new cars purchased after January 1, 2005.
Defending the motion, the NMSII's Mariana Kostadinova said it was intended to support medium-sized businesses, improve traffic safety and reduce environmental pollution by encouraging the import of new cars.
Finance Minister Milen Velchev said his ministry had chosen not to take sides in respect of this motion because it has disadvantages as well as advantages. Such a change would obviously entail a considerable loss of national budget revenue, he said. In the case of importing new cars for corporate buyers, the annual loss could be up to 64 million leva.
In earlier sessions debating VAT Act revisions, Parliament defeated a motion to lower the VAT rate to 18 per cent from 20 per cent. The MPs also turned down proposals for differentiated rates for some products, including foods, medicines, textbooks and teaching aids, and works of literature by Bulgarian authors.
One of the changes allows persons registered under the VAT Act to take court action for compensation if input tax is not refunded to them when due.
The legislature defeated motions by MPs of the opposition Coalition For Bulgaria and Union of Democratic Forces to shorten the time limit for input tax recovery from three to two months.
