Are there people in Serbia hiding their possessions? - Property valued at over RSD 35 million registered by 2,618 wealthy men

Although Finance Minister Mladjan Dinkic stated that this summer the government would start cross-checking the revenues and assets of all those who failed to register a property worth over RSD 35 million, it seems that wealthy men in Serbia don`t care much about warnings that some of them will have to pay a fine amounting to 3 percent of the total value of their unregistered property. Namely, only 2,618 of them have filed a property tax return with the Tax Administration.

The original deadline to submit this tax return was March 31st, but since only 365 people filed it by the month`s end, the deadline was extended until June 30th. Three days prior to that deadline there were only 1,000 property tax returns filed with the Tax Administration.

Having realized that some people waited until the last minute to register their property, the Tax Administration extended the deadline for one more day, that is, until July 1st.

- Over the next five days we expect to receive by mail the rest of tax returns submitted within the deadline set by law, and then we will know their exact number - people at the Tax Administration told our web portal.

Once the data are completed, assets and revenues will be cross-checked. For the purpose of comparison, the Tax Administration will be using the data of the Ministry of Police, local tax branches, geodesic institute, and the BRA.

Fines for the "forgetful"

The Law on the Cross-Check of Revenues and Assets was adopted back in 2003, but it did not come into effect until 2006. The latest information is that the charges have been pressed against 30 taxpayers whose assets were determined to be bigger than their revenue.

Show business people, athletes, entrepreneurs, tycoons, and even criminals have been successfully hiding their revenue from tax collectors for years. The Tax Administration this time promised to trace all those who have "forgotten" to pay their tax.

The cross-check of revenues and assets should bring tax collectors to two new sources of income: the property on which no tax has been charged so far, and the revenue of which there is no record.

As it was announced earlier, those people whose assets are bigger than their taxable income will have to pay a tax of 20 percent on that difference.

People at the Tax Administration did not want to give any comment on whether they had expected such a small number of tax returns, that is, whether they were convinced there were more wealthy men in Serbia than registered.

Economist Goran Nikolic is of the opinion that the Tax Administration has received too few tax returns.

- The number of those who have registered their property is unrealistically small. Their number is probably substantially bigger, which means that the Tax Administration will have to do some checks. Many of them will most likely have an excuse that certain part of their property is worth much less - Nikolic says to eKapija.

Stricter control due to budget deficit?

Economist Goran Nikolic is convinced that the state is finally ready to collect taxes because it needs to cover the budget deficit.

- The Tax Administration is now run by Ivan Simic, who has carried out the same reform in Slovenia. I expect those people who have failed to register their property to be fined. The budget deficit in June hit a record low in 2013, which indicates that people have started paying their taxes. The state is short on money, so it will do its best to collect as many taxes as possible in the following period - says our interlocutor.

If all this turns out to be an empty promise and political marketing, the government will once again send out a message that citizens don`t have to pay taxes as they will suffer no consequences.

Suzana Obradovic