Faster issue of tax clearance
Interoperability of state and local authorities is going to reduce the time required
The procedures for issuing tax information will be faster as the interoperability between the state agencies is adopted. The Independent Authority for Public Revenue (AADE) will be immediately informed about the existence of non-overdue debts of the citizen and accordingly grant the tax clearance certificate, or not.
With this arrangement, mainly the local authorities and other public bodies will communicate with AADE only online (instead of the letters they exchange today), either for the prohibition of providing information or for the lifting of this prohibition. The new procedure deals with cases where the taxpayer has repaid debts to the municipality but cannot obtain tax clearance because AADE has not been informed of the payment.
The new process provides that a taxpayer can request a document of up to two months’ validity for carrying out actions and transactions. The tax administration grants a certificate of awareness only if the taxpayer has no debts to the tax administration for any reason and has submitted the required tax returns for the last five years.
AADE may not grant proof of awareness if the taxpayer has overdue debts to another public sector authority, as long as this authority uses interoperability services to inform the tax administration of the existence of overdue debts.
If the taxpayer has joined a debt settlement program or has outstanding or suspended debts, a certificate of limited validity may be issued, which cannot exceed one month. The tax administration, even after the debtor’s compliance with a payment plan, obligatorily sets a withholding condition in cases where the proof of awareness is issued for the collection of money or the transfer of real estate. The withheld amount is taken into account to cover any installments due, according to the debt settlement plan.
Especially for property transfers, tax clearance is issued with a withholding amount of 70% of the price, as long as the price does not fall short of the objective value, and up to the amount of overdue settled debts to the tax administration.
