Romania wants less red tape, higher tax collections, online tax payments by 2015 with World Bank help

Romania plans to reorganize its Tax Administration (ANAF), restructuring the number of field offices and its IT system, based on evaluations and recommendations from the World Bank. The reorganization, which will have effects over the medium term, is one of the requirements of the EUR 1 billion cautionary loan agreement that Romania will sign with the EBRD this summer. Improvements in procedures will be analyzed and implemented between 2012 and 2015.

EBRD has also analyzed the tax system in neighboring Bulgaria, but the changes in tax administration in Romania will be more profound. “We will work on the IT structure design, see what software and hardware we need, we will analyze the direct responsibilities of the public finances administrations nationwide. We're not only targeting an increase in tax collection, but a decrease in red tape and the improvement of the relationship between the tax payer and the tax man,” said Romania's Finance Minister Bogdan Dragoi. Improvements will limit the face – to – face interaction between the tax payers and the tax administration clerks, as well as add a centralized database and a tax e-payment system. ANAF runs a network of 42 county subsidiaries and 220 city and village subsidiaries, including those in capital Bucharest. The Tax Police and the National Customs Administration are under ANAF's coordination. editor@romania-insider.com