11-01-2013

Bulgarian President Vetoes Film Tax Incentives

By
    Bulgarian President Rosen Plevneliev Bulgarian President Rosen Plevneliev

    SOFIA: Bulgarian President Rosen Plevneliev vetoed the Investment Encouragement Act, which outlined tax incentives for film productions, shortly after it passed a vote in Parliament.

    Although he welcomed new legal measures aimed at improving the business climate in Bulgaria, Plevneliev asked for more specific information. Regarding investments in intellectual property (Cl.27) the President said that “its legal provisions have no clear normative content and that the lack of measures for the encouragement of such investments actually leads to uncertainty in the legal word.” He also required that the “Investment Encouragement Act unequivocally guarantees incentives not to adversely affect the state budget.”

    “We need a clear vision of how government support will be combined with the necessity of stimulating the Bulgarian culture,” Plevneliev said. He added, “The incentives must comply with the EU state aid regulations and that in case of conflict the EU legislation has a priority over the domestic law.”

    The Parliament is forming new working groups to review the objections and propose specific solutions avoiding ambiguities.