The Kakheti Tax Inspection demands that the farmers of Dedoplistkaro District pay the tax that was abolished back in 2000 and then reconfirmed on July 11, 2007 when amendment was introduced to the Tax Code of Georgia. The tax inspection has already informed the farmers if they do not pay the tax their plots will be confiscated and then sold off.
The farmers informed the Information Center of Kakheti that in 2000 Dedoplistkaro District was declared a natural disaster zone. Consequently, Eduard Shevardnadze, the president of Georgia instructed the government to free farmers from having to pay the land plot tax. However, the Dedoplistkaro District Tax Inspection continued collecting the tax from farmers. That’s why amendment was introduced to the Tax Code of Georgia on July 11, 2007. Based on this amendment farmers and the body of self governance of Dedoplistkaro District were freed from paying the plot tax they had been in arrears before January 1, 2005 and without penalty charges. However, on November 21, 2008 the Ministry of Finance adopted a resolution with which the district tax inspectors are instructed to collect plot taxes and the penalty charges for not having paid the tax since 2000.
Farmers and plot owners say that they are unable to pay this tax. The amount of penalty charge increases day by day. About 5,400 plot owners face the problem, and this is only in Dedoplistskaro District.
Gela Mtivlishvili, Kakheti