Romanian Tax Authority wants to reward snitches on other people's tax evasion

Romanians who denounce people or companies' potential tax evasion to the Tax Authority will receive fiscal rewards, similar to the system in other states, according to Finance Ministry State Secretary Liviu Voinea. The new idea is based on the informer system in Sweden, where people are encouraged and rewarded to give information on the wealth of their neighbors or companies. A similar system is applied in the US via the Internal Revenues Service which offers a reward of 30 percent of the recovered amount.

Voinea will go to Sweden in two weeks to study the norms of applying the VAT payment upon cashing in bills, as well as the Swedish property tax system. “I think property reform is important. We are collecting 0.7 percent of GDP, while Poland collects 1.1 percent of the GDP, and the European average is of 3 percent. There are too many exceptions in Romania,” said Voinea. The Romanian state also wants to tax pools built on individual properties, similarly to taxing buildings and plots. Also houses received as inheritance, which are currently not taxed as a second house, could also be taxed within six months to a year from being inherited. editor@romania-insider.com