It is logical to expect that the Fiscal Council, in forming its assessments, will be directed to collect and process relevant information from various economic entities. In that context, what kind of cooperation do you expect with the Economic Chamber of North Macedonia and the like?
Trpeska: The Fiscal Council is fully open to the opinions of other institutions and the business community. The Economic Chamber informed us that public institutions have a large number of unsettled financial obligations. The Fiscal Council conducts analyses and proposes measures for the unpaid obligations towards companies. On the other hand, we also follow global trends such as the introduction of a minimum tax rate of 15 percent on generated revenues. More than 140 countries have already joined this agreement, including countries known as tax havens. There are no Macedonian companies that fall into the fiscal zone for the application of this effective tax rate. However, there are foreign companies that, on a consolidated basis, have revenues above that threshold. By delaying the accession to the agreement, Macedonia will additionally lose fiscal revenues. Foreign companies that are subject to this obligation will, of course, pay that money, but not to us, instead in their home country. Of course, we are also proposing measures for reducing the unsettled obligations of state institutions.
How do you view the phenomenon of the so-called “grey economy” within the framework of the Macedonian economy? Do you, as the Fiscal Council, plan to undertake or encourage anything in the direction of reducing/combatting it in order to increase the fiscal sustainability of the country?
M. Trpeska: The Economic Chamber has issued its own documents for preventing the grey economy. Measures to combat the grey economy can be categorized into three parts: educational, stimulative, and repressive. The most can be achieved through the stimulative measures. For example, if a certain tax is paid regularly, an appropriate refund of funds could be approved. In this way, a good part of the companies that are in the grey zone will aim to exit and return to the formal economy. But, it is a fact that we cannot completely eradicate it. Even developed countries like the USA, Switzerland, or the Scandinavian countries are facing this phenomenon. I believe that there is a will to reduce the grey economy because it is in everyone’s interest. It is a process that will take time and cannot be done in one or two years.