The President of the Council of Foreign Investors: The minimum turnover tax will have the greatest impact

The minimum turnover tax will have the greatest impact of all the measures provided for in the legislative project published by the Ministry of Finance, says the leader of the tax and legal consulting department at PricewaterhouseCoopers, Daniel Anghel, who is also president of the Council of Foreign Investors.

He specified that the measure is almost non-existent in developed countries, precisely because the size of the turnover does not automatically mean commensurate profits. More than 750 companies could pay this tax, 20 of them being credit institutions. The additional receipts to the state budget will amount to over six billion lei, and the most affected will be the energy, automotive, pharmaceutical, tobacco and construction sectors, says Daniel Anghel.

Daniel Anghel: Although, at first glance, the turnover tax may seem, at least from the budgetary perspective, an attractive tool, this measure may have the opposite effect, i.e. the migration of some companies' activities to other states or the postponement of investment intentions. Unfortunately, these changes were not accompanied by a cost versus benefit impact analysis. The turnover tax will certainly generate inflationary pressures, by transferring costs to final consumers, and, lastly, we believe that it will reduce Romania's competitiveness, with an impact on exports. We will become more expensive and thus less attractive, with a potential effect on the trade balance, which we hope will not become deficit again.

Daniel Anghel also stated that, from the point of view of fiscal fairness, reducing the number of facilities, exceptions and exemptions was necessary, but the introduction of new taxes could be avoided.

Translated by: Radu Matei