Bucharest restaurant charges COVID-19 tax

A Bucharest restaurant has charged clients a COVID-19 tax worth RON 5 (a little over EUR 1).

The restaurant introduced the tax “to compensate for the costs that come with social distancing, at least in the first phase of the loosening of the restrictions,” a restaurant representative told Economica.net. “We introduced it because of the restaurant’s social distancing costs. And because everyone was doing it – the other restaurants, and the dentists.”

The representative explained that the tax was eliminated after four people were allowed to sit at the same table.

Sources with the tax collection agency ANAF told Economica.net the tax had “no legal grounds.” “It can be seen as a commercial cost, like all the others, the price of a service. Of course, as long as it is communicated to the client from the very beginning and not added at the end, without their knowledge, because then it might be a case for the Consumer Protection [Agency].”

Local dentist offices have charged a similar tax throughout the state of emergency, Economica.net reported.

The dentist offices have increased their prices during the state of emergency by sums between RON 150 (almost EUR 31) and RON 1,000 (EUR 206). The offices treated emergency cases, as allowed by the second military ordinance, had to comply with rules that increased the costs of some procedures by up to RON 1,000, a sum paid for by the patients.

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