The highest net salary collected by an employee in Romania amounted to 109,986 euros per month in 2005, according to the information provided by the National Fiscal Administration Agency (ANAF). In other words, the best-paid employee in Romania in 2005 made 534 average net wages in one month. In 2004, the same sources say, the highest net monthly salary was even higher in Romania, standing at almost 133,700 euros.
"Judging from the data in the fiscal records, the highest taxable income from salaries and assimilated to salaries earned in 2005 amounted to 5,693,175 RON and the annual tax for this income was set at 910,907 RON," the tax authorities responded to a request from ZIARUL FINANCIAR. ANAF added that the manager that earns this salary works in retail.
Madalina Popescu, the general manager of human resources consultancy Pluri Consultants, believes this is a high salary even for a foreign country. "It's an act of courage to pay such a salary in Romania, considering the tax paid accordingly," she says.
Headhunter George Butunoiu says that this is a very large amount and that "it makes no sense to pay such a salary in Romania." "There are other legal ways to pay a manager. There are other legal solutions that are not as costly tax-wise," Butunoiu states.
As a paradox, the average wage in the trade sector (retail included) is one of the lowest in the entire economy, amounting to about 205 euros per month in 2006 compared with the 260-euro average in the entire economy.
"Such a salary is high everywhere in the world and this should be appreciated. I am convinced that there are a great deal of high salaries in Romania that, however, are not stated as such, mainly because of the uncapped social security contributions," says Gabriel Biris, tax lawyer with Biris Goian law firm.
The salary package of the management usually includes,
