Govt pledges to eliminate income tax exemptions for computer programmers

Romania’s Government pledged in its additional Memorandum of Understanding agreed with the European Union to extend the income taxation pool by taxing food vouchers and bank deposit interest, as well as by gradually eliminating income tax exemptions for computer programmers. A draft emergency ordinance amending the Romanian Tax Code, which was drawn up in May, stipulated that income gained by computer programmers would be taxed. The proposition was strongly criticized by companies in the IT field, which said that the income tax exemption computer programmers had enjoyed since 2001 was one of the measures that contributed to the country's economic growth. The Finance Ministry said back then that the income tax exemption would be maintained and that its elimination was included neither in the letter of intent to the International Monetary Fund nor in the memorandum to the EU. The additional Memorandum of Understanding agreed with the EU was approved by the Government Wednesday and lists the measures Romania must implement in order to receive the third installment of a loan from the EU. Mediafax