Income tax Law expects IMF opinion

The IMF delegation will arrive in Romania on June 2, Gheorghe Oana, State Secretary with the Finance Ministry, said at the end of last week. He says that the new global income taxation law will be sent to Parliament afterwards, because its stipulations need to be discussed again with the IMF representatives.

“We will carry talks on the effects triggered by fiscal relaxation measures included in the law,” Oana said. IMF claims that budget losses brought about by the law’s enforcement will exceed the Finance Ministry’s estimates of about 18,000 billion lei.

According to the fiscal relaxation measures proposed by the Finance Ministry, the marginal rate of taxation would decrease from 40% to 35%, while the minimum rate would fell from 18% to 15%.

According to Gheorghe Oana, the Finance Ministry has yet to finalise the budgetary statistics for March. However, the data regarding VAT collection outline a drop in March’s consumption, Oana added.

Budgetary revenues amounted to 12,100 billion lei in March. They rallied in April, when budgetary revenues stood at 17,000 billion lei. State Secretary Gheorghe Oana says that the new VAT and excises Law is going to be signed by Finance minister Mihai Tanasescu.

Oana is not worried by the low number of global income statements submitted during the first part of May and rules out a deadline extension. Reports received from the territory by May 10 point out that only 15% of contributors expected by the Finance Ministry to submit the statements did so, Tanti Anghel, head of the fiscal procedures department, maintained. She says that, according to the latest information, 3 million people should submit their global income statements.

Gheorghe Oana claims that 1,000 billion lei more will be collected to the state budget by enforcement of the global income tax. Sanctions against those who fail to submit their tax statements will be applied starting this year. Penalties range between 10% and 50% from the tax to be levied, depending on the delay period.

Gheorghe Oana says that the fiscal consultant law will be issued this summer through an emergency ordinance. Tanti Anghel specified that the global income statements may be sent by mail, from any place in the country, to the territorial fiscal administration offices, in order to avoid the crowd.