On the website of the Ministry of Finance, on September 19, the Draft “LAW on some fiscal and budgetary measures to ensure the financial sustainability of Romania in the long term” was published.

According to the draft law, the most important changes to the Fiscal Code are:

• The turnover tax is introduced: companies with a turnover greater than 50,000,000 euros will pay a turnover tax of 1%, if the profit tax is lower than the one resulting from this calculation, or if record tax loss:

○ The minimum tax of 1% of the CA (IMCA): is owed by taxpayers who in the previous year achieved a CA of over 50,000,000 euros and in the calculation year determine a profit tax lower than the IMCA, or if they register a tax loss current or recoverable, so that it would be in a position to pay an amount lower than IMCA;

○ The additional tax: credit institutions owe the additional tax, calculated by applying a rate of 1% on the turnover defined in the law. It is a non-deductible expense.

• Micro-enterprises:

○ 1% for incomes lower than 60,000 euros;

○ 3% for incomes over 60,000 euros or activity on certain CAEN codes (especially HORECA and healthcare, but also others).

• Elimination or reduction of some facilities in IT, construction, agriculture and the food industry:

○ an income tax exemption will apply to salaries from the four fields, but within the limit of a ceiling of 10,000 lei;

○ the health contribution exemption for construction, agriculture and food industry employees is waived;

○ IT employees will be exempt from the contribution to Pillar II.

Employees from the 4 fields will be able to choose to contribute to Pillar II

• A new ceiling for self-employed CASS: a new maximum ceiling of 60 minimum wages per economy has been introduced.

• VAT

○ Clarification of the expression “housing that at the time of delivery can be lived in as such”, by introducing conditions regarding the degree of finishing and equipment;

○ The transition from the 5% to 9% rate for:

◘ Delivery of social housing;

◘ Delivery of high-quality food;

○ Delivery and installation of photovoltaic panels, solar thermal panels, heat pumps and other high efficiency heating systems.

○ The 5% rate is maintained for the delivery of school textbooks, books, newspapers and magazines, access to castles, museums, memorial houses, historical monuments, architectural and archaeological monuments, zoological and botanical gardens, fairs, exhibitions, cinemas and cultural events , other than those exempted, the delivery of firewood and thermal energy.

○ VAT rate of 19% for the delivery of alcohol-free beer and products with added sugar (minimum 10% sugar concentration, other than cookies or biscuits).

• Increasing excise duties on alcohol and alcoholic beverages

• “Sugar tax”: an excise tax is introduced for non-alcoholic beverages with a certain concentration of added sugar.

• Overtaxation of unidentifiable incomes: Any incomes ascertained by the tax authorities, the source of which has not been identified, are imposed with a rate of 70% applied to the adjusted taxable base. The measure applies from 1 July 2024.

• Taxation of “great wealth”:

○ 0.3% on residential properties, for the difference between the taxable value communicated through the taxation decision and the ceiling of 2,500,000 lei.

○ 0.3% on means of transport (including yachts), applied to the difference between the purchase value and the ceiling of 375,000 lei.

Other aspects

• RO e-Seal – system based on the use of electronic devices and a computer application that allows the competent authorities to determine the potential diversion points of road transport of goods, regardless of whether they are in transit or have as their final destination an economic operator on the national territory.

• RO e-Invoice – mandatory for goods and services, in the B2B relationship, between 01.01 and 06.30.2024. Deadline for transmission in the system of 5 days from the date of issue. Fines were introduced, differentiated according to the size of the taxpayer.