ELECTRONIC COMMERCE DURING A PANDEMIC

Abstract

In recent years, many people are already buying the goods they need on the Internet, electronically or
online, forced to a large extent by the pandemic, and attracted somewhat by the speed, low prices and hanging
around in stores, which was also strongly influenced by the COVID crisis and restrictions , in the past years. More
and more traders and manufacturers are convinced of the immense possibilities of the network as a channel to reach
end users easily and without much cost.
The single digital market in the world before the onset of the pandemic was estimated at more than 450 billion euros
a year, covering more than millions of customers, with the revenues of the top big online retailers growing by more
than 30% per year. The indicated figures have grown many times as a result of the development of e-commerce, due
to the restrictions imposed by the Covid infection. For the sale of goods and services from a distance or online, the
EC under the EU has already adopted various statutory documents in the field of VAT, in the form of a Directive,
regarding registration and charging of tax in the country where the sale takes place. The local control authorities of
the member countries in the field of taxes have been applying new modern methods of control of online trade for the
last few years in order to cover electronic shops as much as possible and to increase the revenue in the budget.
In Bulgaria, online trade has long attracted the attention of a number of control bodies, as already in 2013, the socalled
the first team to control it, and two years later a draft program was developed with the aim of reducing the
risk of violations in remote deliveries.. At a later stage, a special division "Electronic Audit" was created under the
Directorate "Control" in the NRA. The European Commission and the EU contribute to the development and control
of online trade in the Union and in our country, and from 01.07.21 a special portal for working with electronic
traders has been operating in one place, where companies engaged in online trade are subject to VAT registration
online in an EU country for intra-Community online sales of goods and services to customers and consumers.