Pickers of truffles, mushrooms and berries are against the abolition of the patent tax for the sector

Truffle and mushroom pickers have spoken out against changes in the tax law. It is with great disappointment that we welcomed the news of a change to the Personal Income Tax Act, which repeals the alternative tax on income from the collection of wild mushrooms and fruits, including medicinal plants, writes the position of the National Union of Processors, Traders and collectors of truffles, mushrooms and berries” (NSPTSTGGP), which was reported by BTA. The position has been sent to all parliamentary groups.

All our members and followers believe that with the introduction of an alternative (patent) tax, in one package with forest tax, social and health insurances, extremely favorable conditions have been created for the activity of the sector of extraction, processing and trade with wild mushrooms, indicate from the branch organization. We cannot accept the fact that there is no revenue after the introduction of the alternative tax. Quite the opposite: in just one month and twenty-five days, the revenues during the year exceeded all the revenues realized last year under the old taxation system to which they want to return us, the document states.

We remind you that today the MPs adopted in the first reading a bill to amend the Law on Personal Income Taxes, which repeals the alternative tax on income from the collection of wild mushrooms and fruits, including medicinal plants.

The bill was submitted by MPs Yordan Tsonev and Temenuzka Petkova. The report of the Committee on Budget and Finance states that this type of economic activity affects nearly 30,000 registered persons, for whom the tax appears excessive and clearly unfair. The alternative tax is payable before the production is realized and is highly dependent on climatic conditions, the report notes.

Truffle and mushroom pickers suggest that the insurance, fees and tax be paid by the 15th of the month in which the extraction takes place, and not the previous one, in order to eliminate the uncertainty of whether there will be mushroom, truffle and berry extraction or not. there is due to snow, drought, cold, frost, hail, wind, etc. Pensioners and disabled people do not have to pay insurance, but people who work an 8-hour day can pay insurance if they wish. Truffle pickers now pay insurance for a 4-hour day.

Almost 99 percent of the harvest of wild mushrooms in our country is for export. In good years, the annual yield amounts to 440 tons of truffles and nearly 1,000 tons of wild mushrooms. About 30,000 are truffle hunters in our country, over 600,000 are wild mushroom gatherers. For a large part of the people, it is the main livelihood, especially in areas with high unemployment.