FISCAL FACILITIES FOR CETENTS AND FIRMS

In view of the fact that ancillary obligations make it difficult to comply with budgetary obligations, in the current context of the financial difficulties faced by taxpayers directly or indirectly affected by the SARS-CoV-2 crisis, this Law has been adopted, intended for all natural or legal persons, regardless of the form of ownership, associations and other entities without legal personality, self-employed natural persons or professions , administrative-territorial units or administrative-territorial subdivisions of the municipality of Bucharest or public institutions.

The law aims to lower payment terms, as well as to provide tax facilities for citizens and businesses on amounts due to the state or local budgets.

The main changes to tax legislation are as follows:

1. From 2021 onwards, a bonus of up to 10% of the annual income tax and up to 10% of the social security contribution may be granted. The level of the bonus, the payment deadlines and the conditions for granting them shall be determined by the annual law of the state budget;
2. For natural persons employed on the basis of an individual employment contract, during the period of suspension from office, the monthly basis for calculating the health insurance contribution shall be the gross minimum wage per country guaranteed in payment in force in the month for which the contribution is due;
3. Legal persons shall calculate and pay, up to and including the 25th of the following month, the health insurance contribution for natural persons carrying out an activity under an individual employment contract, a service relationship or a special status provided for by law, during the suspension from office of those employees.

In the case of income tax, social security contribution and health insurance contribution due for income earned in 2019, for the filing of the single declaration on income tax and social contributions due by natural persons, up to and including 30 June 2020, the following subsidies shall be granted:

• for the payment of income tax, social security contribution and health insurance contribution, representing annual tax obligations for 2019, a bonus of 5 per cent of these amounts shall be granted if all such tax liabilities are extinguished, by payment or compensation, in full by 30 June 2020, inclusive;
• for the submission, by electronic means of remote transmission, of the single declaration on income tax and social contributions due by natural persons, a bonus of 5 % of the amounts due shall be granted.

The abovementioned bonuses shall be granted in the event that the annual tax payment obligations are extinguished in full, by payment or compensation, by 30 June 2020 inclusive.

Amounts representing incentives/premiums granted to employees by the employer from the salary fund, for the period of the state of emergency, for the conduct of activities involving direct contact with citizens and at risk of infection with SARS-CoV-2, are not included in the monthly basis for calculating the social security contribution, the health insurance contribution and the insurance contribution for work.

During the state of emergency, the state of alert and until the end of fiscal year 2020, in the case of taxpayers paying tax on buildings/building tax, local councils may adopt decisions, by 14 August 2020, on the granting of the following bonuses and exemptions:

• reducing the annual tax on buildings by up to 50 per cent for non-residential buildings owned by natural or legal persons, used for their own economic activity or put into service by a rental contract, commoditized or by another type of contract for the pursuit of economic activities to other natural or legal persons;
• exemption from the monthly fee on buildings due by concessionaires, tenants, holders of the right to administer or use a building which is public or private property of the State or town halls, if, during the period for which the state of emergency was established, users of the buildings were obliged to completely discontinue their economic activity.

In the event that local councils adopt decisions to grant a reduction in the tax on non-residential buildings, the owners of the buildings are obliged, by 15 September 2020 inclusive, to submit to the local tax body in whose territorial jurisdiction the building is located, an application for the grant of the reduction, accompanied by a declaration on their own responsibility.

From the date of entry into force of this law until 31 August 2020, the calculation of the respective payment of the tax and the rent due for the occupation of the public domain with billboards shall be made only for billboards decorated with commercial advertising, in proportion to the period of time during which those panels were actually decorated.

Interest, penalties and all accessories relating to the main budgetary obligations outstanding on 31 March 2020 inclusive shall be cancelled if the following conditions are met cumulatively:

• all outstanding main budgetary obligations as of 31 March 2020 inclusive, administered by the central tax body, shall be extinguished by any means;
• all principal budgetary obligations and accessories administered by the central tax body with payment deadlines between 1 April 2020 and the date of filing of the application for cancellation of the accessories shall be extinguished by any means, up to and including the date of submission of the application for cancellation of the accessories;
• the debtor shall have all tax returns filed, up to and including the date of filing of the application for cancellation of the accessories;
• the debtor shall submit an application for the cancellation of the accessories after the abovementioned conditions have been duly fulfilled, but not later than 15 December 2020 inclusive, subject to the penalty of forfeiture.

Interest, penalties and all accessories relating to the main budgetary obligations administered by the central tax body, with maturities prior to 31 March 2020 inclusive and individualised in tax rulings issued, shall be cancelled if the following conditions are met cumulatively:

– all differences in the main budgetary obligations individualised in the taxation decision are extinguished by any means;

– the application for the annulment of the accessories shall be submitted within 90 days of the notification of the tax decision, subject to the penalty of forfeiture.

Borrowers who on 15 December 2020 inclusively have applications for reimbursement pending for which, after that date, the tax body rejects all or part of the refund, shall benefit from the cancellation of the ancillary budgetary obligations if they pay the budgetary obligations on which the cancellation depends, unextinguished by compensation for the amounts individualised in the request for reimbursement, within 30 days of the date of notification of the decision rejecting the reimbursement.

Town halls which obtain, during the period from the date of entry into force of the law to 15 December 2020 inclusive, staggers to the payment of outstanding obligations to the consolidated general budget shall benefit from the cancellation of interest, penalties and all accessories relating to the principal debits provided that the payment instalments as approved are complied with.

The law was passed with 292 votes in order, 1 against and 0 abstentions.