The record State budget revenue for 2008, claimed by Bulgaria’s previous three-party coalition cabinet, never existed, an audit of the National Audit Office reveals.

According to the audit, released late Friday, taxes collected in 2008 were with BGN millions less than what the State Budget Act requires and the coalition cabinet had been spending a non-existent surplus.

The information had been published in the Bulgarian daily “Sega” (Now), cited by the news agency BGNES.

In 2008, the previous cabinet kept bragging about the record surplus over the introduction of the flat tax and other measures, but the audit reveals that the collected Value Added Tax (VAT) is with BGN 705 M less while the collected personal income tax is with BGN 199 M less than the required one. Despite these numbers, which the publication says were well known to those ruling the country, and despite the looming global crisis, the cabinet had decided to give away a staggering BGN 1,5 B at the end of 2008.

Since the surplus did not materialize, the Finance Ministry had just moved money around from one institution to another leading to a discrepancy of BGN 2,5 B between the approved by the Members of the Parliament 2008 State budget and the actual funds that have been distributed, the audit reveals without offering comments on the legality of the spending. Former Finance Minister, Plamen Oresharski, had really broken all records by updating the budget more than 700 times in 2008.

In addition, different ministries spent in 2008 BGN 1,3 B more for renovations and new construction than the funds slated for such activities.