In Moldova, the duty-free regime will be abolished, and the corresponding shops, after the expiration of their licenses, will be able to work only with the payment of all taxes.
This is provided for by a relevant bill, which was registered in the Parliament by PAS deputy, chairman of the commission on economy, budget and finance Dumitru Alaiba. The purpose of the bill is to ensure equal fiscal conditions for all entrepreneurs in our country, so that everyone pays taxes, and the state can help the most vulnerable. It is planned that the abolition of the duty-free regime will also bring additional revenues to the budget during a period of special economic problems. It is assumed that after the adoption of the developed law, duty-free shops will be liquidated upon the expiration of their license (in the case of Chisinau Airport, the deadline is December 2022). But this does not mean that retail outlets will be banned. They can be installed in special zones, at the same airport, only now they will pay taxes, like any other entrepreneur on the territory of Moldova. As noted by Dumitru Alaiba, only during 6 months in 2022, the duty-free regime brought tax benefits of over 1 billion lei (VAT, excises and customs duties). In total, in 2022, these benefits will amount to 2 billion lei. “In the pre-pandemic years, this figure grew and amounted to 4 billion lei per year. These are colossal numbers, and no other industry enjoys such benefits. At the same time, people do not benefit from price cuts in duty-free stores. And from the point of view of entrepreneurs, these tax benefits are unfair, this is dishonest, unfair competition. So, at a distance of several tens of meters, we have retail outlets that pay all taxes, and retail outlets that do not pay all taxes, just because they are in the zone after passport control,” Dumitru Alaiba explained. He noted that around the world, the duty free regime represents a turnover of about 90 billion euros - all with tax benefits. And more and more states are introducing various restrictions. For example, the European Union abolished the duty-free regime for travel within the Community back in 1999. It remains at airports only when leaving the EU. “Given that the vast majority of flights from Chisinau are operated to EU countries, we propose to cancel this regime,” Dumitru Alaiba said. He also noted that the duty-free regime is the main source of smuggling of cigarettes and alcohol. “The duty-free regime in Moldova is a source of schemes and privileges. Previous governments, especially in 2016-2019, have continuously extended this regime. The government of Vlad Plahotniuc promoted these principles of total injustice and favored his duty-free friends. They allowed the installation of duty-free at the entrance to the Transnistrian region. That's when the permission to install duty-free at the entrance to the country appeared, also a cool innovation. They even intended to install duty-free gas stations. This inequality and schemes must be stopped,” Dumitru Alaiba said. According to him, the draft law drafted by him will be voted on this fall, and after it comes into force, there will be no duty-free regime in Moldova after the licenses of the respective stores expire. // 26.09.2022 — InfoMarket.
