Law decriminalising tax evasion below €1 million, if damages and penalties are paid, has been enacted

President Klaus Iohannis promulgated on Friday the law that decriminalises tax evasion below one million euros, if the damage and penalties are paid. The document has sparked much controversy and debate. It has also been challenged in the Constitutional Court, but without success.

Reporter: Gabriela Mitrovici - "In the case of an offence where the damage caused does not exceed one million euros, if during the criminal proceedings the damage plus 25% interest and penalties is paid in full, the offence is not punishable. This is the controversial provision in the new law to combat tax evasion, initiated by PSD and PNL, and passed through parliament in just two days at Christmas last year.

The act was challenged at the Constitutional Court by USR and Force of the Right, but magistrates rejected the complaint. The head of state could have chosen to send the law back to parliament for reconsideration, but instead promulgated it. The law increased prison sentences for failure to pay damages: three years more for half a million euros and five years for one million euros, but it is reduced by a third if the increased damages, interest and penalties are paid in full by the final judgment.

One of the initiators of the bill, PNL leader Nicolae Ciuca, stressed that this is a new judicial stage in these cases, which strengthens the state's ability to fight tax evasion. In his opinion, this is a form of remedy for the crime, as so far sentences have been executed for evasion, but the state has not recovered any of the damage."

Translated by: Radu Matei