Lump-sum tax pushed for 2011

Bars, restaurants, taxi drivers, small hotel owners, hairdressers, repair shops and auto washes will not have to deal with the lump sum tax this year, which was heavily debated over the last two months, as the Government intends to continue to enforce the minimum turnover tax introduced on the 1st of May, 2009 until 2011, official sources say.
The main reason – the minimum tax turned out to be a steady stream of income for the budget, and is estimated to account for 0.6% of the budget revenues this year while the contribution of the lump-sum tax is hard to quantify and the IMF will not tolerate additional uncertainties in terms of revenues.
The state expected to collect 355 million RON (84 million euros) from the minimal tax last year, but the revenues collected in the eight months it was in force were double that figure, reaching about 700 million RON (166 million euros), pushing this year’s target to about 1 billion RON (some 240 million euros).
The minimal tax, introduced about a year ago after pressure from the Fund in order to get additional revenues to the budget and get rid of inactive companies, was a “hot potato” for the Boc government, causing more than 130,000 companies to suspend operations and several thousand to dissolve.
This led the Government in December 2009 to start talking about “rethinking” this tax and introducing a lump sum tax centred on certain types of activities.