Romania adds extra EUR 1.8 bln to tax coffers, sees highest tax collection increase in November

Romania's tax administration collected some EUR 25.6 billion in taxes in the last eight months, some EUR 1.8 billion more than during the same period of 2011, according to its data. The Government, then led by Mihai Razvan Ungureanu, asked the tax administration ANAF to increase collection by some EUR 2 billion, or some 1.6 percent of the GDP, within 60 days. Back then, ANAF was led by Sorin Blejnar, who later on became part of a criminal case where he is a suspect of tax evasion on oil products, with an estimated damage of some EUR 4.7 million to the state. ANAF managed to increase its April to November collections by fighting tax evasion on excises and VAT, as well as due to a better system for collecting taxes, according to ANAF's statement. November was the best tax collection month, with collected taxes 18 percent higher than during November 2011. The state cashed in some EUR 3.2 billion in taxes in November 2012 alone. Romania's state budget saw an increase of 8.9 percent in revenues in 2012, to some EUR 17.5 billion. editor@romania-insider.com