The crisis mode involves a change of mentality at the level of tax policy in Romania, a change expected by 9 noteworthy specialists in taxes in Romania, polled by Wall-Street and present at the third TaxEU forum edition designed to draw a detailed analysis in the major tax and legislative modifications of the year 2009.
Mitroi, PWC: the Revenue agency is cracking the whip on tax collections
The financial crisis is also a change of mentality at the level of tax policy in Romania, as ten specialists in Romania observe.
“Crisis situations brings the opportunity for deep reforms, they bear a great potential in changing mentalities, and Romanian tax policy as well. Ideologies turn around from party-minded to hardheaded, but unfortunately, the governments can easily transit the period of fear between the two stages”, said Mihaela Mitroi, Partner, Tax and Legal Advisory, Pricewaterhouse Coopers Romania (PwC).
This is the time when legislators make bootless measures, such as boomerang measures that backfires the opposite effect rather than the one intended. “For instance, the additional charge of labor, in a moment of already excessive burdening when legislators were already running a program of gradual reduction of heavy tax load established on wages”, said Mitroi.
There are enough successful models for comprehensive and efficient tax policies, Mitroi notes, as there are many counterexamples. However, it remains to be seen what values will be considered in the future tax policy decisions made by Romanian legislators.
“Personally, I don’t believe in a fundamental mentality change “, PwC representative pointed out.
Illegal labor comes at some cost to the state budget, triggering in first nine months in 2008 losses of over 29.5 billion lei, namely 50.8% of the underground economy, according to a research of Ministry of Finances, based o