Romanian Senate approves social-democrats’ bill to remove 102 taxes

Romania’s Senate approved yesterday a draft law that aims to remove 102 non-fiscal taxes starting January 1, 2017. The bill has been initiated by the Social Democratic Party (PSD) and pushed by PSD leader Liviu Dragnea. “The main problems the Romanians have is the diabolically high number of taxes they need to pay,” Dragnea said. “Today, the counter is a place of humiliation.” Liberal MP Teodor Atanasiu criticized the fact that the draft law wasn’t available for debate for a 30-day period, as required, and was moved too fast through the Senate, reports local Mediafax. However, his suggestion to delay the vote was rejected. The senators who supported the law to be voted quicker said that the public debate could take place before the Chamber of Deputies also votes on it. These taxes to be eliminated include the TV-radio tax, which is one of the main financing sources for the Romanian state television, as well as consular fees and the fees paid for getting a temporary passport. Dragnea also wants to remove trade registry taxes, environmental taxes for motor-vehicles, and taxes for getting the criminal record. This bill came less than two months before the parliamentary elections in December. The Parliament is also close to approving a law that allows bank clients with loans in Swiss francs to convert them into local currency loans at a historical exchange rate. editor@romania-insider.com