/ world today news/ “For what reasons did you sign a non-reciprocal unilateral bill for the ratification of an Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Bulgaria and the Government of the United States to improve tax compliance?” This is what the MP from “BSP – Left Bulgaria” Rumen Gechev asked the Minister of Finance Vladislav Goranov during the parliamentary control.
Rumen Gechev explained that according to the data of the Ministry of Finance of the USA, of the 121 contracts signed so far, only four are non-reciprocal – Bulgaria, Cayman Islands, British and Virgin Islands and Bermuda.
“How did Bulgaria find itself in this exotic exception and why are the interests of the Bulgarian state not protected? From where to where will the Bulgarian state provide – only it, information to the USA, and we will not receive information about Bulgarian individuals and legal entities?” asked Gechev.
He commented that it is the government’s duty to ensure the collection of taxes owed by Bulgarian individuals and legal entities. “Doesn’t our country show interest in possibly illegally exported capital from Bulgaria to the USA? Aren’t we going to collect the taxes owed, as the USA wants to collect?”, the representative continued with the questions.
Rumen Gechev explained that he retrieved information from the website of the US Treasury, which shows that there are 7 countries using this model, including Austria, Moldova, Switzerland and Chile, but there are also several countries that have signed a new bilateral treaty, such as Algeria, Azerbaijan, China, Colombia and Georgia.
“Still, Bulgaria is one of the oldest countries in Europe, we are a member of the EU, but I emphasize that none of the former socialist countries has signed such a contract. What made it necessary for the started negotiations to sign a bilateral normal international treaty to turn into a unilateral one, to the detriment of Bulgaria’s interests?” asked the MP and emphasized that the BSP supports the idea, but for the exchange of information, and not for Bulgaria to serve anyone to be another party.
The People’s Representative explained that Bulgaria is the only exception where there is no Article 7, according to which the USA undertakes the commitment of reciprocity in the next period and continuation of the work to sign an additional agreement. “In the draft that you signed, there is no Article 7 and the US does not make any commitments in the foreseeable future that we will be treated at least like Honduras, Jamaica, Georgia and Armenia. This contradicts common sense”, says Gechev categorically.
“We will ask for declassification, as this text is extremely amusing”, commented the MP. According to him, there is nothing secret in the document, and the reason for its secrecy is so as not to embarrass the world. “The secret is that they treat us worse than Georgia and Armenia,” he added.
Gechev explained that the document was submitted in December 2014, and “not by the government of Oresharski or Khan Asparuh”. He expressed concern that a country like the USA, having this secret list of natural or legal persons who have illegally transferred money there, could influence the domestic political life of Bulgaria. “The governing coalition, headed by GERB, does not have the confidence of the USA. Well done!” concluded Rumen Gechev.
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