Transparency International in Bosnia and Herzegovina (TI BiH) reminds the public and deputies in the National Assembly of the Republika Srpska (NARS) that the Draft Law on Determining the Origin of Property and Special Property Tax did not specify which persons would be subject to property origin controls and criteria, thus leaving room for political abuse by selective application of the law.
TI BiH believes that the assets of former and current holders of public office, as well as other persons who may have been exposed to an increased risk of corruption, should be controlled in the first place. The circle of persons who would be a priority in the control of assets or risk factors should be clearly defined in the law itself, and this should not be left to the discretion of the newly established sector in the Tax Administration, or regulated through bylaws.
It was added that, according to the Draft Law, the RS Tax Administration will adopt a plan for control of the origin of property according to previous procedures, and the control procedure will be initiated if in the previous procedure it seems probable that in three consecutive calendar years in which a natural person has an increase in property, there is a difference between the increased property and the reported income of the natural person, which is greater than 300.000 BAM.
TI BiH considers that in case of approval of the law it would be especially desirable to publish the estimated number of taxpayers/persons who will be subjected to special tax inspections and that a special obligation should be established for the RS Tax Administration to present all data on application and effects of the law, which the Proposal does not provide for.
In a public debate, TI BiH pointed out that the Draft Law on Determining the Origin of Property and Special Property Tax could be the subject of constitutional review due to the extremely high tax rate (75 percent), and that it is questionable whether there are capacities in the RS Tax Administration forthe law to be applied retroactively to the period from 1992. That is why it is important that the law clearly defines the groups of persons at increased risk, which should be a priority when checking the origin of property.
”Ahead of the new regular parliamentary session, TI BiH warns that the NARS has not provided conditions for public presence at parliamentary committee sessions for almost two years since the pandemic was declared, so civil society representatives were informed before this session that their presence is not possible due to preventing the spread of coronavirus, ” TI BiH announced.
