The Foreign Investors Association (FIA) is for replacing patent in trade with independent commercial activity. The Association’s members support the new amendments to the Law on the Entrepreneur’s Patent, which provide for the annulment of the patent for trading activities and for the introduction of a new conception in the Tax Code of the Republic of Moldova, of ‘independent activity’, IPN reports.

The notion of ‘independent activity’ envisions a simplified taxation and trading regime for private individuals who obtain revenues from independent commercial activity. The independent commercial activity will be registered by submitting an application to the local body of the State Tax Service. The ceiling on sales revenues will be raised two times, while the tax will represent 1% of the sales revenues. The entrepreneurs will be also exempted from paying local taxes.

The new amendments make the use of cash registers mandatory. First of all, this will enable to correctly asses the incomes obtained from independent commercial activities and, simultaneously, to protect the rights of consumers who, if necessary, will be able to call the Consumer Protection Agency. The new conception envisions greater transparency in commercial activities without increasing the fiscal burden on the entrepreneurs performing such activities.

According to the FIA, the current system of patents, owing to the fact that the patent holders are obliged to keep financial accounts, allows avoiding paying taxes and trading illegally. This jeopardizes the country’s economic growth.

The Foreign Investors Association is a non-profit association of Moldova founded in September 2003 by the largest foreign investors of the country with the support of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development.