Bulgaria has decided to introduce an excise tax on luxury goods as part of efforts to overcome the financial crisis, stated the country’s Prime Minister Boyko Borisov after an extraordinary meeting of the government cabinet on Sunday.
The meeting was convened to discuss the government’s anti-crisis measures. The announcement of the excise tax was preceded by a protest of hundreds of public service employees on Saturday in Sofia, who gathered to express their opposition to the announced salary cuts. The new tax will affect yacht, airplane, luxury car, and expensive real estate owners, as well as those whose bank deposits exceed 50,000 euros, Borisov said. The purpose of these measures is to share the burden of the crisis collectively, he added. (H)
