Govt To Impose 10% Deposit Interest Tax
Bulgaria's government said it has decided to impose a 10% tax on interest earned on bank deposits.
If approved in the parliament, the cabinet's decision envisions the tax to be levied as of the beginning of 2013, the government said in a statement following its weekly meeting on Wednesday.
The taxation amendments are seen as raising additional 120 million levs ($79.1 million/61.4 million euro) to the state budget, Reuters quoted Bulgarian finance minister Simeon Dyankov as saying.
"Bulgaria is the only country in the EU that does not tax that income. The key is to improve equality. At present, richer people with bank deposits do not pay tax on that income," Dyankov told reporters on Wednesday.
Commenting on the decision, Bulgarian central bank announced it does not expect the new taxation to influence directly the performance of local banks and the stability of the banking system as a whole.