On December 22, 2023, amendments to the Tax-Insurance Procedure Code (“TIPC”), Labour Code (“LC”), and several other laws were simultaneously published in the State Gazette.
Amendments to the TIPC
The amendments, effective since January 1, 2024, pertain to non-cash payment methods for voluntary execution of obligations.
Various forms of non-cash payment are now included, such as payment by card through a POS terminal device (including virtual cards), or through a bank or other payment service provider via payment order, budget payment request, or import note.
Additionally, the rules regarding timely non-cash payments have been modified: a payment is considered timely if the amount due is received (not just ordered) in the relevant account no later than the last day of the voluntary payment deadline for the public obligation. It’s worth noting that payments made via payment card through a POS terminal device, including virtual ones, are considered received on the day the payment order is authorized.
Amendments to the Excise Duties and Tax Warehouses Act
Similar amendments were made to the provisions concerning non-cash payment of excise duty to the state budget. Payment is considered on time if the amount due is received in the relevant account no later than the last day of the voluntary payment deadline for the public obligation. The rule remains unchanged for payments made by payment card via a POS terminal device, including virtual ones, where the payment is considered received on the day the payment order is authorized.
The amendments are applicable since 01.01.2024.
Amendments to the Tourism Act
Individuals and legal entities operating restaurant businesses in catering and entertainment establishments with two, three, four, or five-star ratings are now required to offer payment through a POS terminal device.
These establishments must prominently display information about this payment option where it is visible to clients
Failure to comply with these obligations may result in fines for individuals and pecuniary sanctions for legal entities and sole traders. Repeat violations may incur higher fines or pecuniary sanctions.
The amendments shall enter into force on 01.03.2024.
Amendments to the Act on the Activity of the Collective Investment Schemes and Other Collective Investment Enterprises
Clarifications were provided regarding the imposition of fines for specific violations related to the requirements for a manager of alternative investment funds and breaches of the license by a management company engaged in managing collective investment schemes.
The amendments entered into force on 01.01.2024.
Amendments to the Labor Code
Upon written request from the employee, their remuneration must be paid into their payment account and not into a deposit account at a bank designated by the employee. If the payment account is located outside the country, the charges for the money transfer shall be borne by the employee.
Furthermore, if the payment account is outside the country, the fees for the money transfer shall also be borne by the employee in the case of remuneration payment by an employer with 100 or more employees, excluding individuals working under short-term seasonal agricultural employment.
The amendments entered into force on 01.01.2024.
Amendments to the Agricultural Land Preservation Act (“ALPA”)
The construction and/or extension of sites for generating electrical energy from renewable sources using photovoltaic (solar) systems are permitted on non-arable agricultural land of the seventh to tenth category or uncategorized. The amendments, effective since December 22, 2023, eliminate non-irrigated agricultural lands in the fifth and sixth categories. However, this rule does not apply when the electrical energy production is for personal use.
The agricultural land is considered to have changed its purpose of use since the enactment of a detailed development plan (DDP) if the DDP specifies the construction of a national or municipal facility of significant importance that becomes public state or municipal property, or the construction of a renewable energy production facility.
With the amendments effective since December 22, 2023, the procedure for changing the purpose of use of agricultural land has been revised. Interested individuals or legal entities are now required to submit to the Minister of Agriculture and Food (MAF) a copy of the detailed development plan (DDP) that has come into force, along with a certificate of its enactment, a list of affected properties, and the necessary documents for changing the land’s purpose of use.
Furthermore, rules have been established for issuing a certificate to facilitate the ex officio recording of the change of purpose of use of agricultural land in relevant registers. The amendments also include provisions for determining and paying fees, appealing refusals, considering suggestions for revoking decisions, and other related matters.
Procedures initiated but not completed by October 13, 2023, under the Agricultural Land Protection Act (ALPA) will continue to be processed in accordance with the procedures existing before the amendments. Specifically, procedures will be considered incomplete if proposals for approving construction sites and/or routes, or for changing the purpose of use of agricultural land, were submitted to the MAF or the relevant Regional Directorate “Agriculture” (RDA) by October 13, 2023.
Procedures for changing the purpose of use of agricultural land of the fifth or sixth category under the ALPA, which were initiated but not completed after October 13, 2023, shall be terminated.
The change of purpose of use of agricultural land for which a detailed development plan (DDP) for the construction of renewable energy production facilities was approved before the amendment to the Renewable Energy Act (REA) in Official Gazette No. 86/2023, and for which a suggestion for change of purpose of use has not yet been submitted to the Minister of Agriculture and Food or the relevant Regional Directorate “Agriculture”, shall be conducted in accordance with the procedure outlined in the amendments to the REA dated December 22, 2023.
Amendments to the REA
The electronic public registers maintained by the transmission system operator and electricity distribution system operators for submitted connection requests to the relevant network shall not contain commercially sensitive information. Access to these registers will be granted solely to the applicant for connection under that procedure.
If no request for signing a connection agreement has been submitted, any security (deposit or bank guarantee) provided by the producer of electricity from renewable energy sources to the operator of the relevant grid shall be returned to the producer. In cases where costs have been incurred by the relevant operator for connecting the site with the written agreement of the producer, the security shall be released up to the amount of the costs incurred but not paid.
These amendments entered into effect on December 22, 2023.
