Text file: 6757.txt
author: andra
downvotes: 1
end consideration date: 2015-06-20
id: '6757'
number comments: 5
number views: 1047
proposal type: Competent authority response
response: "Response from the Ministry of Finance\nThe proposal to abolish all contributions\
  \ and taxes is completely flat and unfounded. The basis for the imposition of taxes\
  \ and other duties is the Constitution of the Republic of Slovenia (Official Gazette\
  \ of the Republic of Slovenia, No. 33/91-I, 42/97 - UZS68, 66/00 - UZ80, 24/03 -\
  \ UZ3a, 47, 68, 69/04 - UZ14, 69/04 - UZ43, 69/04 - UZ50, 68/06 - UZ121,140,143,\
  \ 47/13 - UZ148 and 47/13 - UZ90,97,99; hereafter: the \"Constitution\"), which,\
  \ in Article 146, paragraph 1, provides for the imposition of taxes, duties, levies\
  \ and other charges. Article 146 of the Constitution provides that the State and\
  \ local authorities shall obtain the means for the exercise of their functions by\
  \ means of taxes and other compulsory levies and by means of revenue from their\
  \ own property. The State prescribes taxes, customs duties and other duties by law.\
  \ Local authorities prescribe taxes and other duties under the conditions laid down\
  \ by the Constitution and by law (Article 147 of the Constitution). The levying,\
  \ assessment, payment, reimbursement, control and enforcement of taxes are governed\
  \ by the Tax Procedure Act (Official Gazette of the Republic of Slovenia, No 13/11\
  \ - Official consolidated text, 32/12, 94/12, 101/13 - ZDavNepr, 111/13, 25/14 -\
  \ ZFU, 40/14 - ZIN-B and 90/14; hereinafter referred to as ZDavP-2). Article 3 of\
  \ the latter provides that a tax under this Law is any monetary revenue of the State\
  \ budget, the budget of the European Union or the budget of a self-governing local\
  \ community which does not constitute payment for a service rendered or goods supplied\
  \ and is payable solely on the basis of the laws on taxation or the regulations\
  \ of self-governing local communities issued on the basis of the laws on taxation.\
  \ The provisions relating to tax shall also apply to social security contributions.\n\
  Taxes are the main source of revenue for the State and are essential for the functioning\
  \ of the State, as well as for the population and the economy as a whole. This means\
  \ that the State uses its revenue to provide a certain range of services to the\
  \ population and the economy as a whole, on the one hand, and to impose the same\
  \ tax burden on the same entities, on the other. The same applies to municipalities.\
  \ The view that taxes are only intended to fill the budget is therefore not tenable.\
  \ In this connection, we would add that the National Assembly of the Republic of\
  \ Slovenia adopts the national budget for each year, which is published in the Official\
  \ Gazette of the Republic of Slovenia, and municipalities also publish their municipal\
  \ budgets. The published budgets show in more detail the revenue and expenditure\
  \ of the State and of the local authorities, respectively, by category.\n \nResponse\
  \ from the Ministry of the Environment and Spatial Planning\nThe proposal falls\
  \ within the remit of the Ministry of the Environment and Spatial Planning - public\
  \ drinking water supply services and public urban waste water collection and treatment\
  \ services.\nThe Regulation on the methodology for setting the prices of services\
  \ of compulsory municipal utilities for environmental protection stipulates that\
  \ the pre-budget price of the public service of drinking water supply consists of\
  \ a network charge and a water charge.\nThe network charge (for water supply) includes:\n\
  \ the cost of depreciation or lease of fixed assets and installations constituting\
  \ public infrastructure, the cost of insurance of the public service infrastructure,\
  \ the cost of compensation, including compensation for easements, damage caused\
  \ in connection with the construction, renovation and maintenance of the public\
  \ service infrastructure, the cost of renovation and maintenance of connections\
  \ to the public water supply system, within the scope of the tasks of the provider\
  \ of the public service of supplying drinking water in accordance with the regulation\
  \ governing the supply of drinking water, the cost of compensation for the reduction\
  \ in agricultural income in accordance with the rules governing compensation for\
  \ the reduction in agricultural income resulting from the adaptation to the measures\
  \ of the water protection regime, the payment for the water right in accordance\
  \ with the rules governing water, and financing expenditure under network charges,\
  \ including interest and other costs related to debt financing for the construction\
  \ or renovation of the infrastructure of the public drinking water supply service.\
  \ This shall take account of the amount of the costs based on the signed contracts.\n\
  The water charge is the part of the price that covers the costs of providing the\
  \ public service of drinking water. Only costs that can be linked to the provision\
  \ of the public service and include the following groups may be included in the\
  \ water charge:\n direct costs of materials and services, direct costs of labour,\
  \ other direct costs, general (indirect) production costs, which include costs of\
  \ materials, depreciation of fixed assets, services and labour required for the\
  \ business, general purchase and selling costs, which include costs of materials,\
  \ depreciation of fixed assets, services and labour required for the business, general\
  \ administrative expenses, comprising the cost of materials, depreciation of fixed\
  \ assets, services and labour required for the business, interest on the financing\
  \ of the provision of the public service, direct selling expenses, water reimbursement\
  \ expenses for drinking water sold and for water losses up to the allowable level\
  \ of water losses in accordance with the regulation governing the supply of drinking\
  \ water, other operating expenses and yield. \nWater compensation is a statutory\
  \ charge for the use of water, alluvial or aquatic land owned by the State under\
  \ the Water Act, which is payable by the holder of the water right (i.e. also by\
  \ the utility operating the water abstraction facility or installation). The Regulation\
  \ stipulates that the water charge is a component of the price of the drinking water\
  \ supply service and not a separate tariff element of the price of the service.\
  \ This is because the user is not obliged to pay for the service. Therefore, the\
  \ water charge should not be shown separately from other items in the invoice. The\
  \ same applies to water losses.\nThe Regulation on the methodology for setting the\
  \ prices of services of compulsory municipal utilities for environmental protection\
  \ provides that the price of the service of each public service for the territory\
  \ of the municipality shall be proposed by the operator by means of a pricing study\
  \ for the provision of the public service and shall be submitted to the competent\
  \ municipal authority for approval. Accordingly, the operator is required to submit\
  \ a complete study to the municipality. On the basis of the study, the municipality\
  \ shall set the approved price for each public service and any subsidy, and the\
  \ operator shall draw up and publish on its website and in the usual local manner\
  \ a price list containing the approved price less any subsidy, which shall be referred\
  \ to as the invoiced price.\nThe pricing of the public environmental protection\
  \ service shall take into account the planned quantities of services to be provided\
  \ and the operator's planned costs and revenues for the following period. For the\
  \ previous billing period, the contractor shall establish the difference between\
  \ the approved price and the invoiced price for the services provided. The contractor\
  \ shall establish the quantity of services provided to users at least once a year.\
  \ The difference established between the approved price and the invoice price and\
  \ the actual quantity of services provided, as well as any municipal assistance\
  \ to the contractor in the previous billing period, shall be taken into account\
  \ in the study when calculating the proposed pre-budget price for the following\
  \ period and shall not be refunded to the users in the form of a cash refund. Credits\
  \ or refunds shall only be made in the event of overpayments resulting from overcharging\
  \ for services.\nThe network charge shall be determined and billed according to\
  \ the capacity of the connections determined by the diameter of the water meter,\
  \ in accordance with the table set out in the Regulation:\nDiameter of water meter\
  \ Network charge factor DN < / = 20 1 20 < DN < 40 3 40 < / = DN < 50 10 50 < /\
  \ = DN < 65 15 65 < / = DN < 80 30 80 < / = DN < 100 50 100 < / = DN < 150 100 150\
  \ < / = DN 200\nThe network charge shall be calculated for each billing water meter\
  \ by dividing the sum of all network charges by the sum of the network charge factors\
  \ at the billing water meters. The resulting factor shall then be multiplied by\
  \ the network charge factor according to the diameter of the individual billing\
  \ water meter.\nIn the context of the public service of urban waste water collection\
  \ and treatment and the public service of rainwater harvesting and treatment, prices\
  \ for the public service are calculated and charged separately:\n the discharge\
  \ of urban waste water and rainwater from public areas, the discharge of rainwater\
  \ from roofs, the services related to septic tanks, existing septic tanks and small\
  \ sewage treatment plants, the treatment of urban waste water and rainwater from\
  \ public areas and the treatment of rainwater from roofs.\nThe services for the\
  \ collection and treatment of rainwater from roofs shall be charged in m3 according\
  \ to the amount of rainfall falling on the floor area of the roof from which the\
  \ rainwater is discharged into the public sewerage system or treated at a municipal\
  \ sewage treatment plant. The quantity of rainfall shall be the average annual rainfall\
  \ over the last five years as measured by the national network of meteorological\
  \ stations, converted to the surface area of the roof from which the rainfall is\
  \ discharged into a public sewer or treated at a sewage treatment works. Records\
  \ of paved surfaces and roofs from which rainwater is discharged into the public\
  \ sewer shall be kept by the public service operator. In the event of a change in\
  \ the situation, the contractor must be informed of the change in the situation.\n\
  The Regulation on the methodology for setting the prices of services of compulsory\
  \ municipal utilities for environmental protection and the currently applicable\
  \ Regulation on the methodology for setting the prices of services of compulsory\
  \ municipal utilities for environmental protection, which replaced the Regulation,\
  \ introduced separate pricing for the discharge and treatment of rainwater from\
  \ roofs, mainly for the reason that the service is actually paid for by the users\
  \ who actually use it. Those who do not discharge rainwater from roofs into the\
  \ public sewerage system and e.g. soak it themselves do not pay for this service,\
  \ which is in line with the \"polluter pays\" principle.\nPreviously, these costs\
  \ were not separated by the public service operators and all the costs of discharging\
  \ and treating rainwater from public areas and roofs were included in the single\
  \ price for urban and rainwater discharging and treatment. Both the Rules and the\
  \ current Regulation also provide that until the public service operator establishes\
  \ an adequate inventory of roofs from which rainwater is discharged into the public\
  \ sewerage system, it cannot set and charge a price for this service.\nAnnex 2 to\
  \ the Regulation provides for a compulsory itemisation of the invoice for public\
  \ utility services. It sets out the prices that must be indicated on the invoice\
  \ for each public service. For the public supply services of drinking water and\
  \ roof drainage and treatment of rainwater, it is set out as follows:\n supply of\
  \ drinking water: network charge, water charge, discharge of rainwater from roofs\
  \ including: network charge, service charge, treatment of rainwater from roofs including:\
  \ network charge, service charge,\nPursuant to Article 112 of the Environmental\
  \ Protection Act, the Government of the Republic of Slovenia adopted the Decree\
  \ on the environmental charge for environmental pollution due to waste water discharge,\
  \ which regulates in more detail the scope of the environmental charge for environmental\
  \ pollution due to municipal waste water discharge.\nArticle 11 of the Environmental\
  \ Levy Regulation provides that the person liable for the payment of the environmental\
  \ levy on municipal waste water discharge is any user of a building in which municipal\
  \ waste water is produced and thereby causes environmental pollution due to municipal\
  \ waste water discharge. Article 3(9)(3) of the Environmental Levy Regulation defines\
  \ the user of a building as a person who is the owner, tenant or other person using\
  \ a building or part of a building where urban waste water is produced. Article\
  \ 11 also provides that, for the person liable to pay the environmental charge for\
  \ environmental pollution caused by the discharge of urban waste water, the environmental\
  \ charge is to be calculated, levied and paid by the provider of the public utility\
  \ service for the collection and treatment of urban waste water and rainwater (the\
  \ public utility) in the area where the urban waste water is produced.\nArticle\
  \ 12 of the Environmental Levy Regulation provides that, for each building, the\
  \ basis for the calculation of the environmental levy on urban waste water discharges\
  \ is the sum of the load units on an annual basis. The annual sum of the load units\
  \ is calculated as the quotient of the total annual quantity of drinking water consumed\
  \ in the building, expressed in m3 , and 50 m3.\nWhere drinking water consumption\
  \ is not determined by metering, the annual sum of the load units in a residential\
  \ building shall be equal to the number of permanently registered occupants.\nIt\
  \ follows that the amount of the environmental charge is primarily calculated on\
  \ the basis of water consumption, if this is determined by metering of consumption\
  \ from the drinking water supply system. In this respect, the Environmental Levy\
  \ Regulation does not distinguish between cases where the drinking water supply\
  \ is provided by public water supply, by village or private water supply, or by\
  \ any other means. The public service operator is therefore obliged to take into\
  \ account the measured water consumption data, even if you are supplied with water\
  \ from your own source.\nHowever, according to Article 14(1) of the Environmental\
  \ Levy Regulation, the user of the building is obliged to provide the measured water\
  \ consumption data for the calculation of the environmental levy, upon request by\
  \ the public service operator.\nThe environmental charge is payable in respect of\
  \ urban waste water disposal services and services relating to septic tanks, existing\
  \ septic tanks and small sewage treatment plants.\nSince the entry into force of\
  \ the Regulation, we have identified certain shortcomings in the Regulation which\
  \ should be examined and corrected accordingly.\nThe Environmental Protection Act,\
  \ which is the legal basis for the Regulation, is very limited in its treatment\
  \ of the pricing of municipal services. However, the Regulation cannot replace certain\
  \ legal content.\nWe have therefore included amendments and additions to the Regulation\
  \ in the Government Work Programme for 2015. We will involve all stakeholders and\
  \ the general public in the amendment process in order to address the shortcomings\
  \ of the current Regulation.\nWe will also further consider the possibility of legislative\
  \ amendments to regulate more precisely pricing, the price setting process itself\
  \ and the justification of costs in the provision of local public environmental\
  \ protection services. This will also allow for a broader debate on solutions that\
  \ will be acceptable to the widest possible range of people and stakeholders.\n\
  \ \n "
response date: 2015-07-29
response due date: null
sent date: 2015-05-22
title: items
upvotes: 16
url: https://predlagam.vladi.si/predlog/6757
