Foreign and Romanian investors warn Govt. against excessive taxation plans

The Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Romania (CCIR) said in a press release that the new taxes considered by the Government are “a serious blow to Romania's economic stability, with strong negative effects on both state and private companies irrespective of their ownership: local or foreign". The ministry of finance in the night of December 18 to December 19 published the 58-page emergency ordinance draft that includes significant revision of the corporate taxation regime, mainly including supplementary taxes and fees for several sectors. Companies’ representatives were puzzled by the provisions that lack clarity. The unexpected way the new taxes were made public without a preliminary debate and consultations with the business circles is in itself a factor generating economic instability, CCIR President Mihai Daraban stressed. CCIR urged the Government not to go ahead with the endorsement of the bill. “At the first reading and without going deep into the essence of the proposals, we can see that they target key infrastructures such as banking, telecoms and energy. There is no impact study along the proposals and many will surface very quickly in the consumer price rises. Some of them seem to be lacking logic, as is the proposal tax banks according to the level of ROBOR which is a market indicator and does not reflect an anti-competitive behaviour of credit institutions. Other measures seem to lack vision, such as the planned changes to the second pillar of the pension system, which risk destroying this crucial saving instrument shortly after the Government announced increases in the public pensions that put massive pressure on Romania's public budget in the coming years,” according to the Coalition for Romania’s Development, an association that brings together local and foreign investors and other stakeholders. The proposed fiscal measures are a ticking bomb for the Romanian economy, the manager of investment fund Fondul Proprietatea warned. “If adopted, the proposed measures will have significant negative effects that will cascade over the whole Romanian economy,” said Johan Meyer, CEO of Franklin Templeton Investments Limited and Portfolio Manager of Fondul Proprietatea. Romanian Govt. mulls over supplementary tax on bank assets Participants in Romania’s mandatory private pension funds, allowed to withdraw Bucharest Stock Exchange crashes after announced fiscal changes editor@romania-insider.com (photo source: Pixabay.com)