If purchases abroad were subject to VAT, the state budget would receive an additional 2.5 billion lei - Veaceslav Ionita
The IDIS Viitorul expert made this statement while analyzing the bank card market in Moldova. According to him, in the first nine months of 2025, Moldovan citizens paid 20.6 billion lei for internet banking, 12.2 billion lei for online shopping abroad, and 3.8 billion lei for online shopping within the country. “If purchases abroad were subject to VAT, the state budget would receive an additional 2.5 billion lei. Currently, online trade abroad, which accounts for 85% of the total volume of such transactions, does not generate tax revenues,” the expert pointed out. Overall, over the past five years, the volume of card payments in Moldova has grown by 25% and is experiencing the fastest growth in its history, with non-cash payments becoming the main driver of market modernization, gradually replacing traditional cash withdrawal transactions. He recalled that card transactions in the third quarter amounted to 61.7 billion lei, and for the whole of 2025, their volume is forecast at around 225 billion lei – 13.5% more than in the previous year and twice as much as in 2021. These changes have occurred against the backdrop of changing consumer behavior: cards are no longer used only for cash withdrawals, but as a real payment instrument, both domestically and abroad. For example, while in 2015 Moldovan citizens withdrew 90% of their money from cards, in the third quarter of this year the situation changed: 57% were cash withdrawals and 43% were card payments. The economist forecasts that in 2027, card payments will exceed cash withdrawals, with a ratio of 53% to 47%. Veaceslav Ionita emphasizes that Moldovan cards used within the country currently dominate the market, generating 79% of the transaction volume - 177.5 billion lei. Moldovan cards used abroad account for 10% of transactions (23.4 billion lei), while foreign cards used in Moldova account for another 11% (23.9 billion lei). According to the expert, the bank card market grows by approximately 2.2 billion lei per month, of which 1.7 billion lei are card payments and 500 million lei are cash withdrawals. According to the economist, in the first nine months of 2025, Moldovan citizens made payments totaling 98.3 billion lei with Moldovan cards: 75.7 billion lei were payments within the country, and 22.6 billion lei were payments outside the country. At the same time, Moldovan citizens spent 11.3 billion lei abroad in the first nine months of 2025, of which 10.4 billion lei were card payments and 0.9 billion lei were cash withdrawals. Foreigners also withdraw significant amounts of cash in Moldova: in January-September 2025, transactions with foreign cards amounted to 20.1 billion lei, of which 11.7 billion lei were payments and 8.4 billion lei were cash withdrawals. The expert points out that some of these transactions are payments made by our fellow citizens from cards opened abroad and transferred to relatives in the country - he estimated this type of money transfers, which are not included in official statistics, at 3-4 billion lei annually. Another 3-4 billion lei comes from the spending of Moldovan citizens who are temporarily returning home. The expert also notes the rapid growth of the online payments market: while in 2015 its volume was 2.6 billion lei, in 2024 it grew to 32.9 billion lei, and at the end of the third quarter of 2025 it exceeded 40.3 billion lei. In the first nine months of 2025, citizens residing in Moldova made online payments totaling 24.4 billion lei, while Moldovan citizens residing abroad made payments totaling 1.22 billion lei, and foreigners in Moldova made online payments totaling another 3.7 billion lei. // 08.12.2025 – InfoMarket.
