The flat tax had a positive influence for the budget and this is an important result. The low tax rates are mostly criticized, because they don`t insure enough incomes to the budget and they “take the blood” out of the government and the social system. In this case it is absolutely the opposite. The low flat tax rate of 10% has secured more tax incomes exactly in the years of crisis, when the budget needed the most resources for social expenditures. Definitely, the flat tax rate in Bulgaria has a positive social effect. Last but not least, the flat tax in Bulgaria with a rate of 10% is low enough. A huge part of the taxpayers received direct tax reduction, another part from the taxpayers took a profit from the low rate, when their incomes were taxed with only 10% and everybody took a profit from the lower insurance rates. The low-income groups got an additional stimulus and compensations via social and budget measures. In other words, except for the budget, the flat tax rate had a positive effect on the taxpayers and the household budgets as well.
Some believe that the high and progressive taxes are better, having in mind that the budget gets more profit and it surpasses the flat tax. During the whole period of transition, Bulgaria had the same rate of high taxes, which exceeded 40% during the 90s. In this period there was not any positive effect of the high and progressive taxes. The budget income was not enough, there were not enough workplaces, the entrepreneurship was not developed, there was not any social fairness (the 90s are the worst time of the Bulgarian transition period). Moreover, in this period of high tax and insurance rates, the big shadow economy took place and the avoidance of taxation as well. The flat tax of 10% was the first step for the stimulus decrease for a shadow economy. The incomes growth is significant, despite of the decreased rates.
As a result, significant difference can be made between Bulgaria and France. In France there is a mass trend among the rich people – they leave the country and the number of taxpayers with high incomes decreases this way. In Bulgaria, the situation is the opposite. According to the official information from the National Revenue Agency, regardless of the crisis, the number of paid taxes and the number of taxpayers with high declared incomes is constantly increasing.
