OREANDA-NEWS. November 26, 2014. To measure the tax burden the study, made by The World Bank and PWC, assessed all taxes and charges that are paid by small and medium-sized enterprises.

Moldova has managed to improve its position in the ranking by reducing a number of taxes from 31 to 21. In particular, small and medium-sized enterprises of Moldova have to pay the income tax, 14 kinds of the social contribution and labour force tax, and 6 duties, including road, local and property ones. The tax burden Moldova’s enterprises are bearing is represented by the total tax rate –TTR- which makes 39.7%, down 0.7 p.p. within the year. The main part of the tax burden in Moldova or 30.2% consists of labour taxes.

The income tax is 9.3%, other taxes being 0.2%. To compare, TTR makes 43.2% in Romania, 48.9% in Russia and 52.4% in Ukraine. As the study shows, it takes Moldova’s businessmen 185 hours a year to fill tax reports and pay all the taxes, with the world average being 264 hours. To be more precise, it takes a businessman from Moldova 42 hours a year to comply with the corporate income tax, 88 hours a year to comply with labour force taxes and some 55 hours to comply with the consumption tax.

Upon average, an ordinary company from Moldova makes 21 tax payments, including 14 ones to pay the labour force tax; 1 payment to pay the income tax and 6 payments to comply with other taxes. The lightest tax burden is said to be in Macedonia – 7.4%; Vanuatu – 8.5%; Timor-Lester – 11%; Qatar- 11.3%; Kuwait – 12.8%; Bahrain – 13.5%; Lesotho – 13.6%; Zambia – 14.8%. The heaviest burden is stated to be on the Comoros, where it is equal to 216.5%. Among former USSR republics, the lightest TTR is reported by Armenia and makes 20.4%.

Then follow Georgia –16.4%; Kazakhstan – 28.6%; Kyrgyzstan – 29.0%; Azerbaijan– 39.8%; Moldova – 39.7%; Uzbekistan – 42.2%; Russia – 48.9%; Belarus – 52.0%; Ukraine– 52.9%; Tajikistan – 80.9%. In Bulgaria and Romania, TTR amounts to 27.0% and 43.2% respectively. Since 2004 there have been 379 tax reforms implemented worldwide and 105 of them have been aimed to introduce e-reporting, Paying Taxes says.