News in English     | 15.01.2020. 12:30 |

BiHPA Committee support amendments to the Law on financing of state institutions

FENA Hana Imamović

SARAJEVO, January 15 (FENA) - The Finance and Budget Committee of the House of Representatives of the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina adopted at today's session in Sarajevo the principles of amending the Law on Financing of the BiH Institutions, which provides for the introduction of budgetary supervision.

The law was passed in 2004 and has already undergone several amendments, with penalties for perpetrators of irregularities or corrupt acts being provided in the amount of 5,000 to 20,000 KM.

The Committee Chairman Predrag Kožul (Croat Democratic Union - HDZ) says such fines are too strict. He believes that the lesser sanctions would be more motivating for the inspectors because the high fines could hinder inspectors in doing the job.

As explained by the BiH Ministry of Finance and Treasury, the Ministry of Justice was consulted and the proposed law had to be in line with the Law on Misdemeanors in order to avoid inconsistencies in the legal system.

Members of the Committee decided to remove from the agenda of today's session the amendments to the Excise Duties Act, proposed by the Council of Ministers, as it is also related to the 2019 law.

The law was referred to the BiH Parliament within set timeframe, it was said today, but since the country's highest legislative body was not in session in the last year because of problems with the formation of a new convocation of the BiH Council of Ministers, the law should now be returned to the Council of Ministers.

It was decided to ask the Collegium of the House for an additional deadline in order for the Committee to vote on the law after the Council of Ministers of BiH submits a new proposal for amendments in order to harmonize the law on collection of excise duties.

Another amendment to the Excise Duties Act proposed by MP from the Independent Bloc Aida Baručija was also considered today, requesting that five percent of excise taxes on tobacco and tobacco products be directed to the entity solidarity funds for children’s medical treatments.

As she explained to the Commissioners, there was a noticeable increase in the collected excise tax, given that this amount was 449 million KM in 2009, and preliminary data for 2019 indicate that this amount increased to about 900 million KM.

Therefore, she sees no reason to disregard her proposal for changes to the law, however, Kožul announced that he would not support the changes to the law because he believes the healthcare issue needed to be addressed systematically, but also because of the fact that these individual changes often affect local communities.

The Committee then adopted a conclusion postponing the vote on this law, but also sought the opinion of the Board of Directors of the Indirect Taxation Authority.

The draft budget of the Audit Office of the Institutions of BiH for 2020 has sparked debate among the committee members, as some of the members have questioned the fact that 635,000 KM is being sought to equip a new office space that has not yet been purchased, but also for the fact that this institution requests 1,500 square meters of space.

The Committee has instructed the collegium to consider the requested budget increase for this BiH institution by the next session, but they called for similar treatment for all 75 state-level institutions.

(FENA) S. R.

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