The government did not support a legislative initiative to remove the local fee for sanitary cleaning from the Tax Code.
The bill was registered in Parliament by independent MP Hayk Vartanyan, proposing to abolish this fee starting from 2024, as it is an additional burden for citizens and families, against the backdrop of rising energy prices and low incomes of the population. The Ministry of Finance noted that this local fee is provided for in the Tax Code, but its administration is provided by local public administration bodies, including applying exemptions for socially vulnerable categories of the population. Thus, local authorities have the right to independently establish the amount and procedure for applying the fee for sanitary cleaning, respectively, the amount and timing of its payment, as well as the category of those exempted, differs depending on the locality. This and other local fees allow the local administration to form financial resources for the functioning of public utilities. As InfoMarket agency reported earlier, the initiative to abolish the sanitary fee arose in the context of the introduction of this tax in Chisinau and its application for the first time this year. Many citizens were outraged by the excessive tax burden, and some public figures and activists called this tax illegal. At the same time, the sanitary cleaning fee is included in the system of local fees and is applied at the discretion of local administrations. For example, the fee for sanitary cleaning in 2022 in Straseni amounted to 24 lei per year per person at the address indicated as the place of residence (in 2023 the rate was increased to 65 lei); the same fee is set in Calarasi and in Edinet, in Ungheni - 36 lei / person per year; in Taraclia - 60 lei / person per year for each registered in the dwelling, in Hincesti - 60 lei per year for each owner of the dwelling; in Chisinau and Comrat it is set at 120 lei/person per year; in Cimislia - 132 lei per year. In Cainari, the fee for sanitary cleaning is 30 lei per year per farm and is paid until September 30th. In Ialoveni, the fee applies only to single-family households that have not signed a contract with a sanitation service provider, and amounts to 500 lei per year. In some settlements, the fee for sanitary cleaning is not applied, for example, in Balti, Soroca, Cahul, Rezina, etc. //02.08.2023 – InfoMarket.
