M.Majauskas: among the millions of taxes – deferred companies – and the richest Lithuanian companies Business

As one of the measures to help the business affected by the coronavirus pandemic, the state offered to defer the payment of various taxes and contributions during the first quarantine.

At the Seimas Budget and Finance Committee (BFK) meeting on Tuesday, the Head of the State Tax Inspectorate, Edita Janušienė, reported that a total of 62.5 thousand people could take the opportunity to defer taxes. Legal persons included in the lists of victims of COVID-19. The 212 companies on this list are huge contributors.

So far, a third of companies have taken advantage of this opportunity: 22.3 thousand. And the total debt of these legal entities without recovery to the STI is 740.7 million. euros.

However, about a third of this amount – 220.9 million. EUR: consists of deferred arrears of 109 large taxpayers.

One third of deferred contributions are for large companies

At the commission meeting held on Tuesday, the president of the Seimas BFK, Mykolas Majauskas, was surprised that among the companies with the greatest tax deferrals there are many that are among the most successful companies in the country and asked why this is not done public your list.

“Defaults were granted to the most successful companies, whose owners are the richest people in Lithuania. In 16th place – the richest, in fourth place – too. And many others. By the way, I am not saying that these companies should not receive state aid. However, is this not an abuse in the application for aid?

He pointed out that all the companies that had received other state support, such as those distributed through Invega, were made known, and asked why the names of the deferred companies were not made known.

“It is not a shame to ask for help, but perhaps the public would make sure that the media is not abused,” emphasized M. Majauskas.

“It is not a shame to ask for help, but perhaps the public would make sure that the media is not abused,” emphasized M. Majauskas.

Promised to think

E. Janušienė objected that tax deferrals are not considered state aid. He argued that deferred companies are not advertised as this could jeopardize their participation in public procurement.

“The tax arrears themselves (due to which active recovery actions can be taken) are not a secret, but since it is a deferred tax, we cannot advertise companies,” Janušienė said, adding that the losses from companies are important this year. 5 billion euros.

He assured that if companies that could not pay their back taxes by the end of February signed tax treaties, their ability to pay taxes would be reviewed.

E. Janušienė also promised to consult with lawyers on the possibility of advertising deferred companies.

In addition, the head of the STI added that the ability of companies to pay taxes is being verified. Companies that may not be in trouble are selected; These companies are asked to document their losses. 365 companies of this type have already been selected, 134 or 37 percent of them. they were removed from the list of affected companies after an evaluation of the documents submitted by them.

Most of the deferred VAT

Lithuanian companies were the ones that most postponed the payment of Value Added Tax (VAT): among the total of back taxes for which the declaration is not made, VAT represents 71.8%. or 532 million. euros. In second place is the Personal Income Tax (IRPF) (101 million euros).

A similar trend is observed among the main contributors who allocate 221 million. Taxes – VAT on this amount amounts to 164.4 million euros. 15.3 million euros in second place. euros.

What sectors have set aside more taxes?

Among all sectors, the wholesale and retail trade sectors stand out in terms of the amount of tax evasion, with deferred taxes accounting for 60% of merchants. of all back taxes.

Second, transportation and storage (7.1%), about 5%. deferred debts of real estate, manufacturing, accommodation and catering companies represent the total of tax arrears.

A similar trend is observed in the analysis of the 1062 most tax-deferred companies with arrears of 576 million. EUR: 63.5% of these companies belong to the wholesale and retail trade sector, 7.2%. – transportation and storage, 6.3 percent. – Real estate operations, 5.2 percent. – manufacturing.

The STI will not initiate new recovery actions until 2021. February 28 arrears for 2020. December 31 It will also be exempt from interest on arrears for the period 2020 onwards. March 16 to February 28 2021

And companies that cannot pay their arrears before February 28, 2021, will be able to enter into a tax loan agreement at the end of 2022 without interest.

The growth of tax arrears has slowed

The STI will not initiate new recovery actions until 2021. February 28 arrears for 2020. December 31 It will also be exempt from delinquency interest for the period 2020 onwards. March 16 to February 28 2021

And companies that cannot pay their arrears before February 28, 2021, will be able to enter into a tax loan agreement at the end of 2022 without interest.

By the way, the amount of tax deferred has been decreasing in recent months. The STI observes that in August – October non-recoverable tax arrears grew at a slower rate than in previous months.

For example, tax arrears increased more than 30 percent in June or July, and only 3.7 percent in November.

E. Janušienė also partly links this trend to the fact that the STI selected 107 larger clients, whose performance indicators improved, and held interviews with them about the possibility of starting to pay taxes. After these conversations, the companies paid 67 million. 53 million euros of which paid by large companies.

Furthermore, companies that are in the process of restructuring or bankruptcy are currently excluded from the list of companies that can benefit from the tax deferral, as they currently have arrears of 14 million euros. euros.

The head of STI, E. Janušienė, emphasized that if the new government decides to extend this measure, the list of companies that could defer taxes should be reduced and clarified.