The absence of statutes of limitations for tax violations has been declared unconstitutional by
the Constitutional Court today.

The ruling satisfies a complaint lodged by the lawyer Aureliu Scorțescu on behalf of a client named Ghenadie Mură. In December 2020, the tax authorities of Chisinau found Mură in violation of a number of fiscal provisions in relation to his income tax liabilities for the period of 2012-2019.

After Mură refused to pay up, the fiscal agency added failure-to-pay penalties, leading the man to sue.

Meanwhile, in August 2021, a prosecutor with the Special Cases Prosecution Service charged Mură with large-scale tax evasion. In October 2022, the lawyer Scorțescu filed the complaint with the Constitutional Court.

The Court observed that Article 264(2) of the Fiscal Code does not establish any prescriptive periods for imposing fiscal sanctions. The Court stated that the objective of the legislator to deter the violation of tax legislation can be ensured by measures less intrusive in the property right of the taxpayer, for example, by establishing extended prescriptive periods. In conclusion, the Court held that through the contested measure the legislator gave priority to ensuring the collection of fees and taxes, at the expense of less intrusive mechanisms in the property rights of taxpayers. Thus, the balance between the competing principles was disturbed.

Therefore, the Court held that the text “except for the cases provided for in section (2)” of Article 264 (1) and (2) of the Fiscal Code do not ensure a fair balance between competing interests and, consequently, contravene article 46 of the Constitution.

The Court partially admitted the objection of unconstitutionality raised by the lawyer Aureliu Scorțescu on behalf of Mr. Ghenadie Mură pending before the Chisinau Court. The effects of this decision apply starting from October 31, 2024, with the exception of the notification filed by Aureliu Scorțescu, in which the decision applies from the date of adoption.