Ex. No. 143-00-143
Sofia November 2, 2022
MR PETER CHOBANOV
CHAIRMAN OF THE BUDGET AND FINANCE COMMITTEE
TO THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
ABOUT: Draft law to amend and supplement the Law on Corporate Income Taxation, No. 48-254-01-34, submitted by Bozhidar Bojanov and a group n.p. on 27.10.2022
DEAR MR CHOBANOV,
The Confederation of Employers and Industrialists in Bulgaria (KRIB) would like to express its support for the bill amending and supplementing the Law on Corporate Income Taxation (CIT), No. 48-254-01-34, submitted by Bozhidar Bojanov and a group of people's representatives 27.10.2022/650/XNUMX Enabling the issuance of electronic meal vouchers would have a number of positive effects for the thousands of employers and over XNUMX employees who use meal vouchers each month. It would save employers time to administer and distribute vouchers, facilitate employees by allowing them to use their vouchers for payments at a POS terminal and online, reduce transport costs and the carbon footprint of vouchers. Digitization of food vouchers would also bring benefits to the state, promoting cashless payments and reducing the shadow economy respectively.
At the same time, KRIB would like to draw attention to the importance of adopting the technical requirements for the issuance of electronic vouchers in a time frame that would allow operators of food vouchers, who received permission for this activity from the Ministry of Finance, to adapt their products. To this end, we are ready to assist the People's Representatives, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Labor and Social Policy and the Ministry of e-Government with expertise in issuing electronic food vouchers in other EU countries and bringing Bulgarian legislation into line with the requirements of European legislation and best practices in the field of social benefits in electronic form.
In the context of the digitization of food vouchers, we would like to emphasize that vouchers with a social focus, including those in electronic form, do not fall within the scope of Directive (EU) 2015/2366 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 November 2015 on payment services in the internal market, i.e. they are not payment instruments. In Bulgaria, the Law on Payment Services and Payment Systems, which transposes the Directive, provides for the same exceptions. According to Art. 2, para. 1, item 11, outside the scope of the Law fall "services performed on the basis of payment instruments that can be used only in a limited way and meet one of the following conditions:
.....
C) the instruments are valid only on the territory of the Republic of Bulgaria, provided at the request of a budgetary organization within the meaning of the Law on Public Finances or by a person from the public sector or a commercial company, serve to acquire certain goods or services from suppliers who have concluded a contract with the issuer , and are regulated by a national or local administrative authority to achieve specific social or tax objectives'.
In order to achieve the goal of the importers, declared in the reasons for the bill, it should be explicitly written in the ZKPO that these vouchers, issued according to the order, are provided in kind.
Therefore, we would like to make the following proposals for additions and amendments to the ZKPO in relation to the digitization of food vouchers:
In Art. 204, letter b) to specify that it also applies to the costs of food vouchers on electronic media.
In Art. 209, para. 2 to create a new item 7 with the requirements for electronic food vouchers:
"Each food voucher in an electronic medium shall contain, by writing or storage in the electronic medium:
a) the name and/or logo of the operator, the single identification code determined by the Registration Agency, respectively the single identification code according to BULSTAT;
b) the name and/or the uniform identification code determined by the Registration Agency, respectively the uniform identification code according to BULSTAT of the employer;
c) an express prohibition on withdrawing cash from the electronic meal voucher, receiving cash up to the nominal value of the voucher and prohibition on the purchase of wine, spirits, beer and tobacco products through meal vouchers;
d) 16-digit PAN or other unique identification number that allows individualization and tracking of the electronic medium;
e) the period of validity of the physical carrier of the electronic meal voucher written on the face of the physical carrier of the meal voucher, if any;
f) the words "meal voucher" and "valid only in Bulgaria";
To create a new one Art. 209a, where the general requirements for issuing electronic food vouchers are specified:
"(1) Food vouchers on electronic media are issued and loaded only by persons who have a permit to operate as operators of food vouchers within the meaning of Art. 209, para. 2 of this law.
(2) Food vouchers on electronic media can be used only and only in a limited network of suppliers within the meaning of Art. 2, para. 1, item 11 of the Payment Services and Payment Systems Act and serve for the acquisition of certain goods and services from suppliers who have concluded a contract with the operator, including for online payments.
(3) Food vouchers on an electronic medium are a means of exchange and are not a payment instrument within the meaning of the Payment Services and Payment Systems Act.
(4) Operators issuing food vouchers on electronic media may organize the issuance of the same with their own resources or conclude contracts with organizations that manage a payment scheme or with other organizations specialized in this field.
(5) Operators issuing electronic meal vouchers are responsible for authorizing transactions with electronic meal vouchers only at suppliers who have a contract with the operator.
(6) Operators issuing food vouchers on electronic media are obliged to provide users with an opportunity to check the status, availability and validity of food vouchers, as well as information on ways to replace and block electronic media in cases of theft or loss.
(7) Insofar as there are no special provisions regarding food vouchers on electronic media, the rules in Art. 209 and the Ordinance under Art. 209, para. 6 of this law.
Keeping the non-taxable amount of food vouchers at BGN 200.
In addition, we would like to draw your attention to another issue that concerns the provision of food vouchers by employers in 2023 and is regulated in the ZKPO: the amount of the maximum value of non-taxable social costs under Art. 204, para. 1, item 2, letter "b", provided in the form of food vouchers to each employed person, regulated in art. 209, para. 1 ZKPO.
At the beginning of 2022, the non-taxable amount for food vouchers per month per employee was increased from BGN 80 to BGN 200 through the Transitional and Final Provisions of the State Budget Act 2022. This measure was received extremely well by thousands of employers, who increased the monthly amount of vouchers they provide to their employees. According to our data, over 40% of employers have increased the monthly amount for food vouchers for their employees, and currently the average amount received by employees in Bulgaria is around BGN 150 per month. It is therefore necessary that this incentive for employers and workers be preserved for 2023 to ensure predictability and avoid the social discontent that its termination would cause.
As the amount of BGN 200 is currently enshrined as a temporary measure in the Transitional and Final Provisions of the Law on the State Budget for 2022, in order to ensure certainty for employers and workers, we believe that it should be included in the permanent provisions of the Law on Corporate Income Taxation (CIT), art. 209, para 1. This will ensure predictability for the thousands of employers and over 650 workers who use food vouchers every month, thus preserving their purchasing power in the face of rising inflation and food prices.
In conclusion, we hope you will take our opinion into consideration and we remain available for further information and questions.
With respect,
Eugene Ivanov
Ex. director and member of the Board of Directors
http://www.turbulence.tech