Bulgaria: proposed Intrastat changes

New draft Intrastat rules have been published by the Ministry of Finance and are expected to come into force on 1 July 2012.

The changes proposed under the new rules include:

• using links to relevant EU regulations that are directly applicable in Bulgaria, instead of repeating them
• clearer definitions of the functions of the various competent authorities and how they interact
• removing the term ‘operator’ as a result of which only VAT registered persons which have reached the Intrastat thresholds, and not any person performing intra-community trading, will be subject to the new law
• waiving the obligation all persons performing intra-community supplies to keep electronic ledgers, even when these have not reached the Intrastat thresholds;
• making the deadline for submitting Intrastat declarations the same as for filing VAT returns (ie the 14th of the month following the respective reporting month), except for the initial declaration, which must be submitted by the 30th of the month following the respective period
• extending the period for correcting already submitted data from three to six months
• substantially increasing the upper limit of the various administrative penalties
• making the term ‘value’ mean the same as ‘taxable base’, as defined in the VAT Act
• various transitional provisions for introducing the new rules, such as preserving the effect of secondary legislation on the rules on specific movements of goods and the requirements for submitting Intrastat-related documents We will keep you updated on the development of the draft. Law: draft Statistics of Intra-Community Trade in Goods Act