Tax debts are not a secret anymore (Public access to information)
Main State Tax Inspectorate from Moldova, obliged to provide information on tax and duty arrears
On 11 November 2009, the Supreme Court of Justice of the Republic of Moldova dismissed the appeal filed by the Main State Tax Inspectorate (MSTI) against the decision of the Court of Appeal that compelled MSTI to provide the Association of Independent Press (API) with figures and documents on tax and duty debts of four corporations and two officials.
In January 2009, API filed with MSTI three requests of access to information on tax and duty arrears. MSTI rejected the requests arguing that the information requested was a tax secret. However, the Tax Code, Title V, article131 para.5, as well as article 129 (19), provides that a “tax secret” is whatever information held by tax administration bodies, including the information about taxpayers that is a commercial secret, except for the information about violations of tax legislation.
The Chisinau Court of Appeal ruled that, by refusing to provide the information requested, MSTI violated API’s access to information right. Also, MSTI failed to prove that its refusal was provided by law and that the harm caused to the rights and interests of taxpayers was higher than the public interest in knowing this information. The Supreme Court of Justice dismissed the appeal filed by MSTI and upheld the judgment of the Chisinau Court of Appeal.
The API vs. MSTI case is the foremost in the area of access to information held by the Moldovan tax authorities. It represents an important judicial precedent that sets out the right of media to learn and make public the information about violations of tax legislation.
The legal assistance in this case was provided by the Independent Journalism Center (IJC) within the framework of the project “Improving the Media Law Environment in Moldova”, funded by the Civil Rights Defenders from Sweden.
Association of Independent Press (API)
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