SOFIA: The Bulgarian customs agency collected a total of BGN 8.1 B in revenues in 2015, which was the largest amount collected in the past seven years.
This is revealed by the annual report of the agency published here the other day.
Among the main challenges of the customs agency in 2015 were the falling prices of oil on world markets, the migrant influx and the contraband of cigarettes.
The customs officials managed to compensate for the falling revenues from VAT levied on fuels with an increased collection rate of excise duties.
More than BGN 4.5 B were collected from excise duties, which represented an increase of nearly BGN 0.5 B compared to 2014 and is the largest amount of excise duties ever collected.
Revenues from excise duties levied on fuels increased by 8.3 % compared to 2014, those from tobacco products rose by 16.5 %, while the revenues from alcohol grew by 6.4 %.
The revenues from customs duties increased by 3.8 %, while those from VAT levied from the import of fuels decreased by 23.8 %.
