(P) Tax Flash: Legislative summary February 2014

Amendments to the Methodological Norms for the application of the Fiscal Code (Government Decision No. 77 / 2014, published in Official Gazette No. 108/12 February 2014) Certain amendments and clarifications have been introduced concerning corporate income tax, microenterprises income tax, withholding tax, VAT and excise duties. The provisions of the Government Decision become effective upon their publication in the Romanian Official Gazette, except for the change regarding the monitoring of situations related to granting direct exemption from excise duties on natural gas or electricity, which will enter into force on 1 April 2014. Please refer to our Tax Alert no. 6/February 2014 for further details. Amendments to the Fiscal Code and The Fiscal Procedure Code (Government Emergency Ordinance No. 8 / 2014, published in the Official Gazette No. 15/28 February 2014) The Ordinance brings amendments and completions to several normative acts, including the Fiscal Code and the Fiscal Procedure Code. These amendments become effective upon their publication in the Romanian Official Gazette with certain exceptions. Please refer to our Tax Alert no. 8/March 2014 for further details. Corporate income tax Order regarding the updated consumer price index used for updating advance payments for profits tax purposes (Order no. 256/2014 published in the Official Gazette no. 135/ 25 February 2014) For fiscal year 2014 the consumer price index to be used for updating the advance payments for profits tax is 102.4%. VAT Order for amending the provisions of Order no 3,331/2013 of the President of the National Agency of Fiscal Administration (Order no. 235 published in the Official Gazette no. 133/ 24 February 2014) The Order excludes, inter-alia, the provisions regarding the ex officio registration in the Registry for taxpayers appling the VAT cash-in system (considering that starting with 1 January 2014 the system is optional). Customs Order for amending the provisions of Order no 9,710/2006 of the President of the National Agency of Fiscal Administration (Order no. 94/2014 published in the Official Gazette no. 101/ 10 February 2014) The Order approves the list of customs offices empowered to perform custom clearance with strategic products. Environment fund Environment Fund contributions(Order nr. 192/2014 published in the Official Gazette no. 129/ 21 February 2014) The amendments brought by the Order refer, inter-alia, to: - amended definitions of specific terms (such as “Introducing on the national market”, “First distribution on the national market”, “Oils”); - the contribution of 2 RON/kilo for packed goods is due also by economic operators which rent out, with professional title, packages (for the respective packages introduced on the national market); - certain conditions were introduced in order for packaging waste to be taken into account for achieving the recovery or incineration objectives; - operators opting to individually realize annual objectives for used tyres should, inter-alia, hold documentation to prove the traceability of the respective tyres (from the economic operators that introduce used tyres on the national market to the recovering economic operators); - starting with 1 January 2014, the contribution for mineral oils is of 0.30 lei/kg (from 2 lei/l).