If all these consultations fail to produce the outcome desired by farmers, the ‘Forța Fermierilor’ association will organise a protest rally on the day the parliament considers the draft tax policy bill at its second reading (around 24 or 25 September). This could be followed by a series of mass protests involving the deployment of agricultural machinery, according to the organisation’s statement issued today.
Moldovan farmers are outraged by “the government’s intention to increase the VAT rate on cereals and oilseeds by 50 per cent”. As noted in the ‘Forța Fermierilor’ statement, farmers regard the proposed measure as unjustified, discriminatory and disastrous, particularly in the context of the exorbitant rise in input prices in the agricultural sector.
Farmers are asking, ‘How is it possible to suddenly increase the tax burden on a sector that has suffered the most from natural disasters over the last five years and has received minimal state funding?’
The organisation’s statement also notes that in all EU countries in Central and Southern Europe, VAT rates for agriculture range from 5 to 11 per cent. That is, lower than the 12 per cent VAT rate on agricultural produce proposed by the Moldovan government.
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