site.btaOmbudsman’s Office Asks Finance Minister about VAT on Electricity for Household Users

The National Ombudsman’s Chief Secretary Aysun Avdzhiev sent a letter to Finance Minister Temenuzhka Petkova asking her what will be included in the tax base featuring on the invoices for household consumers of electricity, which will determine the size of VAT to be charged. The question was prompted by Energy Act amendments, under which the electricity pricing formula for households will be changed as of July 1, the National Ombudsman's Office reported on Friday.

Avdzhiev noted that, according to an ordinance of the Energy and Water Regulatory Commission (EWRC), the regulator sets the prices and the pricing components for electricity and determines the size of compensation without VAT being factored in.

In a separate letter to EWRC Chair Plamen Mladenovski, Avdzhiev recommends launching a procedure to amend and supplement the general terms of electricity sales by the three main electricity distributors in Bulgaria (Electrohold, EVN, and Energo-Pro) to align them with the Energy Act amendments. The National Ombudsman’s Office finds it necessary for the general terms to include a detailed description of the content of the invoices which the end-suppliers will issue to household consumers of electricity from July 1 onward.

On May 13, Mladenovski announced that the liberalization of the electricity market for households will be postponed indefinitely.