Companies in Macedonia are paying the lowest taxes. Compared to ten years ago, now the state has dropped the collection of profits of companies fivefold, meaning that hundreds of millions of euros in direct assistance from the government are awarded to domestic firms every year, says Deputy PM and Finance Minister Zoran Stavreski.

“In comparison, if the effective tax rate in 2005 and 2006 was nearly 40%, it has been decreased fivefold since then, which means the state now collects five times less from the profit of companies. It is up to the firms to decide themselves where and how these funds will be invested,” Stavreski tells Vecer daily in an interview.

The government, he adds, has been continuously introducing measures to reduce the tax burden of companies. From 2009 until 2015 in the midst of the global and European crisis, the government exempted companies from paying undistributed profits tax. Profits tax has been reduced to zero percent if it is reinvested. Profit tax has been fully cancelled for micro and small businesses with an income up to 3 million denars. Also, the government has reduced rates for pension and health insurance, notes Stavreski.

The Deputy PM states that customs duties have been reduced by 40% since 2006. “As a result, companies can save up to 10 million euros annually,” says Stavreski.

The solid economic results of Macedonia’s economy, i.e. the fourth best economic result in 2015 in Europe in times of political crisis, are the product of well-designed economic policies that are being applied in the country in the past ten years, Stavreski tells Vecer adding that tax policy and the government’s proactive policy towards the economy play an important role in achieving a high economic growth.