The Commission decided to send letters of formal notice to Bulgaria asking for its VAT rules to be brought into line with EU law.
One case involves the fact that small companies trading in fuel are currently obliged to provide excessive amounts of money in advance to guarantee their ability to pay their VAT bill. Big companies only need to deposit a guarantee of an amount equal to the VAT due for their transactions. The Commission considers that the national legislation is not compatible with EU rules and with the freedom to conduct a business.
Separately, Bulgaria is asked to change its rules on how VAT due is calculated when business assets are used for private or non-business purposes and when business assets are transferred to another Member State.
If Bulgaria does not act on these two requests within the next two months, the Commission may send a reasoned opinion to the Bulgarian authorities.
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