Romanian law discourages private pensions savings

Romanian legislation does not encourage savings via private pensions, as other countries in the region do. The fiscal incentive for private pensions is the lowest in the region, and even in Europe, reveals a survey of the German Insurance Association. Tax deductibility under Romanian legislation for contributions to voluntary pensions is much lower than in other European countries, which includes those in the Central and Eastern Europe, says Mihai Seitan, one of the people involved in the creation of the private pension system in Romania, commenting on the survey of the German Insurance Association. Mihai Seitan is now the general manager of the pension and insurance broker FinCoP and is one of the authors of the laws on private pensions (both mandatory and voluntary) in Romania. “Unlike Romania, EU countries have applied favourable fiscal treatments to ensure development of insurance and pension systems, emphasising insurance products. After the insurance industry developed sufficiently, insurance products were assimilated to savings, for which reason they received the same fiscal treatment,” Seitan told ZF.