An audit by the Court of Accounts revealed incorrect forecasting of customs revenues, which affected the budget execution. Thus, in 2023, it was not possible to reach the level of revenue accumulation approved by the Law on State Budget by about 1,087.3 million lei, and in 2024 – by 143.5 million lei, the audit report said.
The presence of reserves in the revenue estimates for certain categories of payments administered by the Customs Service led to the non-fulfillment of the approved revenues. For instance, although the revenue plan was adjusted three times, some categories of revenues were over-executed by 1,133 million lei, while others were under-executed by 2,363.8 million lei.
As a result, in 2023, VAT amounting to 1,781.6 million lei, customs duty – 98.5 million lei, excise duties on imported oil products – 24.8 million lei were not paid. And in 2024, excise duties on imported petroleum products – 24.8 million lei, on tobacco products – 251.8 million lei, excise duties on cars – 196.3 million lei, excise duties on liquefied gas – 4.6 million lei, on imported beer – 2.5 million lei, on wine and other imported products – 0.7 million lei, customs duty – 2.2 million lei were not paid. And revenues from the final confiscation were unfulfilled by 0.8 million lei.
The Court of Accounts emphasizes that the shortfall was due to other omissions, such as inaccurate forecasting, accumulation of debts, shortcomings in the process of execution and use of fiscal incentives, etc.
“Some potential risks of fraud with the origin of imported goods also remain, due to the fact that in 32% and, respectively, 18% of annual requests addressed by the Customs Service to the customs authorities of other states, the origin of goods is not confirmed or is confirmed partially, which indicates that economic entities submit to the customs authorities certificates of origin of goods that do not meet the requirements,” the report says.
The auditors also note that the Customs Service has not yet developed the “Anti-fraud” IS, the National Electronic System for Preliminary Tariff Decisions on the Classification of Goods has not been created, and the Electronic Queue Management System for Crossing the State Border has not been implemented.
