PhD Miro Džakula at the panel Crisis and Gray Economy

On the second day of Jahorina – economic forum, which is held 26. -27. April 2022, the panel  Crisis and the Gray Economy  was attended by  PhD Miro Džakula, Director of the Indirect Taxation Authority.

“When it comes to the ITA, we believe that paying taxes is a key point in the civilization of a society and that the whole society should work on education about the importance of paying taxes,” said director Džakula.

“ITA records revenue growth, in the first three months of 2022 revenues from indirect taxes are higher by 406 million BAM or 22.29% compared to the same period in 2021.˝

“Many claim that it is exclusively due to the increase in prices, but I believe that it is not only for that reason, because VAT is paid on additional value in every transaction and that is the reason for the increase in revenues from indirect taxes,” said Džakula.

At the panel, he pointed out that the vast majority of taxpayers are really orderly  and that the ITA should facilitate the work of such taxpayers as much as possible: “We also consider  that the deadline for submitting VAT returns and the VAT payment deadline should be extended from the 10th of the month for the previous month, perhaps even by the end of the month, as this would actually make it easier for taxpayers to do business and fulfill obligations.  ”

Speaking about the possible introduction of differentiated VAT rates – Director Džakula pointed out that the best solution for BiH is to remain a single VAT rate, because the possible introduction of a lower VAT rate will certainly not lead to lower prices and citizens will not  benefit and the state will lose a significant amount of revenue. In the last few years, the world’s largest financial institutions, such as the IMF and the World Bank, have been giving recommendations to all countries in the world to introduce legal solutions that would have a single VAT rate, and BiH has the exact system.