We don't want any more changes to the fiscal legislation, executives say

Financial managers and executives say the predictability and stability of the fiscal legislation are even more important than tax cuts. “What does a manager want? Not to have to update budget estimates as a result of legislative modifications. If I make a budget for 2010, I want to know from the very beginning of the year what income tax I will pay on April 25th. We are not interested in VAT cuts or in other incentives, I want to at least know what will happen next year,” said Carmen Rusmir, CEO of Zoppas Industries Romania, a producer of home appliances, which posted a 43.6 million-euro turnover in 2008 and had around 3,000 employees, according to data from the Ministry of Finance.

The most recent example of the unpredictability of fiscal legislation is the draft emergency ordinance on postponing the advance payment of the income tax until 2015. The Fiscal Code in force provides for a generalisation of advance payment to include companies as well, as of 2010, whilst so far this only applied to banks.