Whilst talking about the issue of tax disputes, the Minister of Finance of Georgia, Nodar Khaduri, stated that taxes whose limitation periods have passed have been written off by a decision of the Government of Georgia. In total, over GEL 1 billion in tax obligations have been written off.
FactChecktook interest in the accuracy of Nodar Khaduri’s statement.
FactCheck wroteabout the issue of writing off tax obligations by the state earlier as well.
In order to get updated information, we addressed the Ministry of Finance of Georgia with the following questions:
- How many cases have passed their expiration date and how many taxpayers have seen their tax obligations written off since 2013? (Please also provide information about the approximate amount of money written off).
- How many cases passed their expiration date and how many taxpayers have seen their tax obligations written off from 2010 to 2012? (Please also provide information about the approximate amount of money written off).
According to the information received from the Ministry of Finance of Georgia, tax obligations are written off based upon Points A and B of Part 37 of Article 309 of the Tax Code of Georgia. The aforementioned Article was enacted on 12 December 2014. Hence, tax obligations have been written off based upon this piece of legislation.
The following tax obligations can be written off based upon the rules set by the Ministry of Finance of Georgia: tax obligations formed before 1 June 2005 and those recognised before the enactment of Points A and B of Part 37 of Article 309 of the Tax Code of Georgia. In addition, tax obligations can be written off if an individual has not presented a tax declaration since 1 January 2005 or has presented it but the amount of money to be paid is equal to 0. If the expenditure of such individuals is higher than their income, the state forgives them their debt and writes off the tax obligations.
The same regulation applies to tax obligations and fines formed before 1 January 2009 and recognised by the individual.
To sum up, about 9,392 taxpayers had their tax obligations of GEL 938,817,000 written off based upon Point A whilst Point B provided for the writing off of GEL 4,388,000 for 581 taxpayers.
Conclusion
On 12 December 2014, based upon the rules set out by the Minister of Finance of Georgia, Points A and B of Part 37 of Article 309 of the Tax Code of Georgia were enacted. Using this piece of legislation, the Ministry of Finance of Georgia wrote off the tax obligations of those individuals whose obligations to the state had passed their expiration date.
According to Points A and B of the aforementioned legal regulation, more than 10,000 people had their tax obligations written off, totalling more than GEL 1 billion.
FactCheck concludes that Nodar Khaduri’s statement: "Tax obligations of more than GEL 1 billion have been written off," is TRUE.
