Moldovan PM says governance to cut taxes, to remove abuses, to promote new measures of stimulating business environment

Chisinau, 25 July /MOLDPRES/ - Prime Minister Pavel Filip reiterated the government’s determination to grow Moldova’s economy and to create friendly conditions for the business environment at the Economic Forum for Dialogue and Development, held by the Business People’s Association from Moldova (AOAM) on 24 July evening.  

According to the government’s communication and protocol department, attending the event were over 800 entrepreneurs from all Moldova’s regions, as well as heads of key institutions in the management of the economic sector. The discussions were focused on measures carried out so far and new initiatives by the state, aimed at facilitating the work of the business.  

The PM reviewed the cabinet’s most important actions to back entrepreneurs: cutting the number of permissive acts and the number of control bodies, strengthening the banking sector and subsidization of employers who create more than 100 new jobs, setting up of IT virtual parks. ’’We have proved by concrete things that we are pro-business governance and we have thus got economic growth for two years in a row,’’ Pavel Filip said.   

The prime minister noted that the government continued efforts to diminish the shadow economy and attract investments into Moldova, through the promotion of the fiscal reform. Thus, the cabinet proposes to introduce a single 12-per cent quota of tax on the incomes of private persons and legal entities and a cut from 23 per cent to 18 per cent of the employer’s contribution to the state social insurances budget. At the same time, those who receive salaries under the subsistence minimum will no longer pay taxes and employers from the agricultural sector will pay social contributions of 12 per cent instead of 16 per cent. ‘’We want to reduce the fiscal disadvantages to create new jobs. Thus, we will stimulate the payment of taxes and will reduce the envelope salary phenomenon,’’ the PM said.

At the same time, a special fiscal regime is to be set for the work in the sector of hotels and restaurants, by cutting the share of the value added tax (VAT) from 20 per cent to 10 per cent. The taxi drivers having a monthly salary up to 10,000 lei will pay a single tax of 500 lei per month.

The cabinet also proposes measures to diminish the pressure of the control bodies on the business and limiting the enforcement of the preventive arrest. ‘’We do these things, as we want you to feel well in Moldova, when you do businesses and, certainly, as we want to have financial capacity to make social and public investments,’’ Pavel Filip stressed.

At the forum, the entrepreneurs welcomed the pro-business legislative package, which is to give an impetus to the development of the national economy and contribute to the increase in residents’ incomes. At the same time, the business people presented their own visions to improve the business environment, based on professional experience, and considered opportunities of turning to good account the economic potential of Moldova.