The Government of Tajikistan plans to increase tax receipts annually on average by 10 percent. Meanwhile, local experts consider that there are no real preconditions for increasing tax receipts. According to them, the tax receipts could be raised only through raising tax burden and fining businesses.
Last year, tax receipts (taxes and customs payments) amounted to 15.8 billion somoni, which was 70 percent of the whole volume of the budget revenues and 1.1 billion somoni more than it was originally planned.
At the same time, the national budget last year received more than 450 million somoni less due to failure of fulfillment of VAT and income tax collection targets.
At the beginning of this year, President Emomali Rahmon expressed concern about failure of fulfillment of Vat and income tax collection targets and ordered to take urgent measures to reduce tax debts.
As of January 1, 2019, tax debts reportedly amounted to more than 752 million somoni.
Meanwhile, the practice of writing off debts of separate taxpayers is going on in the country. On March 1 this year, the government issued a decree to write off tax debts and fines a total of more than 14.2 million somoni (equivalent to more than 1.5 million U.S. dollars) of eleven companies and three individual entrepreneurs.
The national budget for 2019 projects that tax receipts will amount to 16.3 billion somoni this year, which is 10.8 percent more than last year.
According to forecast figures of the Ministry of Finance (MoF), the volume of tax receipts will increase annually on average by 10 percent during 2020-2021.
Tajik authorities say the tax receipts will increase naturally due to opening of new enterprises and creation of new jobs.
Meanwhile, local experts consider that there are no real preconditions for increasing tax receipts. According to them, the tax receipts could be raised only through raising tax burden and fining businesses.
A high-ranking source told Asia-Plus on the basis of anonymity that the government every year sets the economic growth rate at 7.0 percent.
“But the growth rates of agrarian and industrial sectors have been low in recent years, and therefore, we have to achieve the planned GDP growth rate through raising tax burden,” the source said.
To achieve the economic growth rate set by the government, the tax authorities raise the tax rates “where it is still possible, and first of all for business.”
“I have repeatedly told our Tax authorities that according to data of international organizations our taxes are one of the highest in the world but they just do not want to recognize this fact,” he said.
Moreover, tax authorities have failed to fulfill VAT and income tax collection targets in recent years and “they try to catch up imposing fines on representatives of business.”
“It is a road to nowhere! In such a way we will smother the remaining taxpayers,” the source added.
