Tax evasion revenues
Unnatural connection between the companies and the state - The country
gives hard time to the companies with procedures and expenses; the companies
fight back with avoiding taxes and regulations. Change of such practice
is prerequisite for a better compatibility at the foreign market.
"Often do the people from the faculties, educational institutions and
state offices wander why marketing, management, financial management,
corporative finances, settlement of the expenses are not developed in
our production organizations. The answer is clear: you must work hard
in order to make a good marketing campaign - relatively familiarized
entrepreneur can only learn from colleague how to avoid paying taxes.
Every experienced bookkeeper would do that for him, and he would simply
continue with the practice. And, if he saves a hundred or few hundreds
of DEM on taxes, and some 50 thousand on customs and other export fees,
than he has found proper calculation for his company" says Goran Petkovic,
from the G17 Institute, answering the question whether and how does
the balance in Serbia pay off.
According to the same study of G17 (Petkovic is one of the authors),
results show that private business in Serbia seems to be profitable,
but under certain conditions, though. Namely, besides views on legal
procedures necessary for business dealing, this research provided opinion
poll in 470 companies. Along with the results of this research, it is
necessary to annually set aside 337 DEM for bribe. Along with the words
of another author, Dusan Vujovic, the corruption is small, endemic,
and it lubricates wheels of poorly paid administration. "This is a negative
twist: the country gives hard time to the companies, and the companies
fight back the same way, by smuggling, evasion of taxes etc. I think
that finding measures to stop such practice will be high math. We have
to be involved in the situation where the state will make life of the
entrepreneurs easier, then the companies would understand there should
be new relation between the state and the companies - relation where
companies pay the taxes and the state provides services for that" Vujovic
said.
No cheating
Using one company as an example, it was obvious how avoiding taxes is
a significant form of revenues. Namely, experimented company paid 72
thousand DEM worth of taxes, in stead of declared 225 thousand, while
proclaimed customs of 56 thousand DEM were covered with just 3,5 thousand
DEM.
On the other hand, business expenses were mostly higher than legally.
Therefore, 1.323 DEM should be set aside for founding the company (regardless
of all the complicated legal procedures) instead of issued 585 DEM.
Similar situation could be found in real estate building, especially
with getting building permission, as well as equipment importing (expenses
of the customs and certifications). Indirect business expenses, consisted
in the report preparation for various inspections, do not favor business
opening in Serbia either. It should reserve 2.000 DEM for penalties
per company, and 137 working days were spent on collaboration with inspection
agencies, i.e. 1,3 workers were engaged during the year.
"The state must, therefore, maximally ease business dealing for our
companies and introduce new, simpler legal procedures that would enable
this. For registration of the company, per example, it should be waited
up to two months. Similar situation was in other countries that went
through transition" Vujovic says "But, they became simpler and gathered
all the procedures".
That awaits us as well, and the result would be company adjustment to
the market conditions, and more importantly export orientation, Petkovic
points out.
"That is another positive side of these measures - to make our companies
to start thinking in a different way. They should stop thinking how
to fool the country, but how to make better products, invest into design,
work with people..." Petkovic says.
In order for domestic production organizations to be compatible to the
foreign, they must set the same conditions, and politicians must take
care of that, by passing the laws in harmony with Europe and the world.
Wide consensus of all the political factors is more than necessary,
but it is hardly reachable.
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