The impact of VAT and excise taxes on some economic processes

Abstract

International experience shows that there is a stable relationship between the level of economic development of a country and the tax burden on the economy. Economically more developed countries can redistribute through the budget a large share of the national product produced in their economy. The maximum possible level of tax collection is determined by many factors depending on the level of socio-economic development of the country. Indirect taxes, especially VAT and excise taxes, are of great socio-economic importance and play an important role in the life of Moldova. Firstly, they are a significant source of state revenue, their share in the budget is significantly higher than the share of direct taxes. In the Republic of Moldova, the share of indirect taxes in budget revenues has varied by about 45% for many years, and the share of VAT alone exceeds 32%. Consequently, the amounts of accumulated indirect taxes redistributed through the budget have an impact on everything that is financed from the budget of Moldova. Indirect taxes also have an impact on the level of consumer prices, significantly increasing them for certain groups of goods (for example, fuel and tobacco products), therefore they are a factor in regulating the level of inflation, a means of influencing the dynamics and level of prices in the country. Thirdly, the system of collecting VAT and excise taxes affects production, the service sector (especially trade), the level of consumption, foreign economic activity, contributing to their growth or, conversely, reduction, that is, it allows you to regulate the movement of spheres of commodity circulation in accordance with the development goals of the state. All this determines that the problems of improving the taxation of VAT and excise taxes are currently extremely relevant for Moldova. CZU: 336.226.322:[336.228:338](478); JEL: H2; DOI: https://doi.org/10.53486/cike2022.43