Financial Consolidation of Civil Society by Introducing the Mechanism of Designation of a Tax Percentage to Non-Profit Organizations of Public Benefit[EN]
Consolidarea financiară a societăţii civile prin introducerea mecanismului de direcţionare a unei părţi din impozit către organizaţiile necomerciale de utilitate publică[RO]
Финансовое укрепление гражданского общества путем внедрения механизма перечисления части налогов в пользу общественно полезных некоммерческих организаций[RU]
Financial Consolidation of Civil Society by Introducing the Mechanism of Designation of a Tax Percentage to Non-Profit Organizations of Public Benefit
Prepared: december 1, 2011
The consolidation of civil society and its financial
sustainability in particular were the object of multiple expectations from the
civil society and of promises made by authorities and decision-makers.
Already in 2008, by the Resolution of the NGO Forum[1], the government was asked[2] to adopt a law on the designation of a tax percentage to public benefit organizations, with the NGO Council being empowered to monitor and facilitate the adoption of this law[3].
This expectation was a reaction to the obligation formulated and undertaken on the basis of the EU-Moldova Action Plan of 2006. The undertaken obligation reveals the Government’s obligation to facilitate and support the development of civil society.
As a result, the first steps in implementation were reflected in the Civil Society Consolidation Strategy,[4] whose Chapter II provided for the following: Creation of a legal and fiscal framework favorable for the sustainable development of the associative sector. In particular, in paragraph 2 it specified: Elaboration and adoption of a package of legislation designed to regulate the possibility for taxpayers to designate a certain percentage of income tax due to the state to public benefit organizations.
However, the adoption of the Strategy was not followed by a Government Action Plan aimed at implementing the priorities set out in the Strategy. The specific actions should have comprised (and they were offered only in the action plan): 1) Priority II: Creation of a legal and fiscal framework favorable for the sustainable development of the associative sector, 2) Amendments and regulations on improving the mechanism for making donations to the civil society, 3) Identification of a mechanism, applicable for the fiscal system of the Republic of Moldova, for income tax designation to the account of NGOs, 4) Amendments and regulations, applicable for the fiscal system of the Republic of Moldova, necessary for designating the income tax to the account of NGOs.
