The draft amendment to the Fiscal Code, which provides, among other things, for an increase in the dividend tax from 5% to 8%, a decrease in the income threshold up to which a company is considered a microenterprise, an increase to 9% of VAT for non-alcoholic beverages containing added sugar or other sweeteners or flavored beverages, and an increase in excise duties on cigarettes.
Below you will find the main legislative changes this year, as well as the proposals submitted for approval this month:
- July 2022:
- employees have access to Revisal to prove their seniority
Employees and former employees have online access to their data from the employee registry, located on the Revisal portal administered by the Labor Inspectorate. With the data extracted from Revisal, they can prove their seniority in work and/or specialty, and the law enters into force on July 26, 2022.
• Normative act: Law no. 144/2022 – amending the Labor Code, Official Gazette no. 502/ 23 May 2022.
- The maximum nominal value of the meal voucher that employers can offer to employees increases to 30 lei per employee, for each day worked, as of July of this year. (it is in the Official Gazette)
- Large taxpayers will have to apply SAF-T, which is mandatory for them, after the 6 months of grace period have passed. (It is in the Official Gazette). This concerns the completion of Declaration 406.
- In July, pensioners with incomes less than or equal to 2,000 lei will receive a benefit of 700 lei. This is granted only once, that is, only this month. (it is in the Official Gazette)
- e-transport or the Goods Radar applies from July 1. (it is in the Official Gazette). If there is a transport of goods with high tax risk, but also other goods that are not considered tax risk, all transported goods will be declared in the system EN e-Transport. IMPORTANT: The e-Transport sanctions will apply from October 1 (changed from the draft).
- E-bill applies from July 1, 2022 for products with high tax risk in the B2B relationship. These are: Vegetables, fruits, edible roots and tubers, other edible plants; Alcoholic beverages; New constructions; Mineral products (natural mineral water, sand and gravel); Clothing and footwear
B2G is also from July 1st.
- State employment is suspended from July 1 to December 31, 2022. It should be noted that for positions for which the procedures for organizing competitions or exams were initiated before July 1, 2022, the procedures for filling them continue, according to the provisions in force on that date. (It is in the Official Gazette)
- The Fiscal Procedure Code is amended to mean that "the application of the penalty of a misdemeanor fine is prescribed within 5 years from the date of the act". Previously, the term was 6 months, but ANAF lost lawsuits, so the Ministry of Finance decided to amend the legislation. It has to do with the fact that the misdemeanor fine applied for non-payment of certain taxes is prescribed in six months and not in five years, as ANAF held.
- Discount of 50 bani/liter of gasoline and diesel from July 1.
- Massive ANAF checks on individuals from July 1. In this regard, employees
- ANAF will start checks on 140 large taxpayers, following a risk analysis. The tax authorities will start checks on the seaside because some economic agents do not give tax receipts for sun loungers.
- June 2022 – December 2022: the minimum wage increases by 18% in the food industry and agriculture
The minimum wage increases from 2,550 lei gross per month to 3,000 lei gross per month between June and December 2022 for about 300,000 employees in the food industry and agriculture. In net terms, the minimum wages of employees in these sectors will increase by 250 lei per month, from 1,524 lei net currently to 1,774 lei net.
As a result of this increase, employers will be exempt from paying certain taxes and duties, similar to the facilities previously granted in construction.
• Normative act: Law no. 135/2022 amending and supplementing certain normative acts, Official Gazette no. 489/17 May 2022.
- June – December 2022: employers can voluntarily increase the minimum wage by 200 lei tax-free
Employers may voluntarily increase, between June 1 and December 31, 2022 inclusive, the level of the gross monthly basic salary by 200 lei, respectively from 2,550 lei to 2,750 lei (not including bonuses and other allowances). The provisions do not apply to budgetary personnel.
• Normative act: GEO no. 67/2022 regarding some fiscal measures, as well as for amending and supplementing art. 59 of Law no. 207/2015 regarding the Fiscal Procedure Code, Official Gazette no. 494/18 May 2022.
- May 2022: Kurzarbeit has been extended until December 31, 2022
Employers affected by the international economic crisis, inflation and the war in Ukraine can continue to reduce the working hours of their employees if they do not have orders, just like during the pandemic. For employees, the measure provides for the continued granting of the allowance of 75% of the monthly gross basic salary for the hours of reduced working hours in the case of those affected by the reduction of working hours by no more than 80% of the daily, weekly or monthly duration. For freelancers (PFA, copyrights, etc.) the period for granting the allowance of 41.5% of the average gross salary provided for by the Law on the Social Insurance Budget for Professionals provided for by the Civil Code is extended. The measure is part of the financial support scheme for the reduction of working hours (Kurzarbeit program).
Regulatory act: emergency ordinance, May 30, 2022 – to be published in the Official Gazette.
- April 2022:
- parents can conclude employment contracts with nannies
The parent or legal representative of the child and the nanny may conclude an individual employment contract, in addition to the modalities existing to date (employment contract concluded by the nanny with a legal entity or the nanny's activity as an authorized natural person). The parent who has hired a nanny with an individual employment contract is obliged to draw up a personal file for her to present at the request of labor inspectors, otherwise sanctions are provided. According to data from the Labor Inspectorate, in August 2021, there were less than 15,000 registered employment contracts for the occupations of nanny, baby sitter, child care worker and governess.
• Normative act: Emergency Ordinance amending and supplementing Law No. 167/2014 on the practice of the nanny profession.
- Daily allowances for drivers in international transport, exempt from payroll taxes up to a ceiling of 3 salaries
A amendment to the Tax Code "forgives" transport and construction companies (with activities in other countries) from fines from the Tax Authorities, which in recent years have reclassified the daily allowances of employees in these sectors as salary income. From now on, if the driver's daily allowance exceeds the equivalent of 3 basic salaries, what will be collected above this level will be taxed as salary income.
Regulatory act: emergency ordinance, May 30, 2022 – to be published in the Official Gazette.
- January 2022:
- 100,000 workers from non-EU countries can be admitted to the labor market
Officially, 100,000 citizens from non-EU states can come to work in Romania in 2022, the contingent of foreign workers who can come to work being double compared to 2021.
• Normative act: Government Decision no. 132/27.01.2022 on establishing the quota of newly admitted foreign workers on the labor market in 2022, Official Gazette no. 90/28.01.2022
- The minimum wage increased by 11%
• The gross minimum wage increased from 2,300 lei gross in 2021 to 2,550 lei gross per month in 2022, an increase of 10.91% per month. Over 1.2 million employees in Romania, a quarter of the total, earn the minimum wage in the economy.
• Normative act: Government Decision No. 1071/2021 (Official Gazette 950 of October 5, 2021).
a Draft submitted for approval regarding the amendment of the Tax Code
- increasing the tax rate on dividends from 5% to 8%, for dividends distributed/paid between Romanian legal entities, as well as for those distributed/paid to non-residents;
- reducing the ceiling on income obtained in the previous year from 1,000,000 euros to 500,000 euros;
- establishing the condition that micro-enterprises have at least one employee, in which case it is necessary to eliminate the 3% tax rate.
- establishing a condition for the same shareholder/associate to hold shares in no more than three micro-enterprises, in the case of shareholders/associates who hold more than 251% of the value/number of shares or voting rights;
- limiting to 20% the income obtained from consultancy and management; excluding from the scope of application of the tax on microenterprise income legal entities that carry out activities: in the banking sector, in the insurance and reinsurance sector, in the capital market, including intermediation activities in these fields, in the gambling sector, as well as Romanian legal entities that carry out activities of exploration, development, exploitation of oil and natural gas deposits;
- eliminating the possibility of an option for applying profit tax in the event that the conditions related to the value of the share capital and the number of employees were met;
- maintaining the tax rate of 11%;
- it is proposed to modify the ceiling up to which tax facilities are granted in the construction sector, the agricultural sector and the food industry, respectively from 30,000 lei per month to 10,000 lei per month, inclusive. For the part of the gross monthly income exceeding 10,000 lei, tax facilities do not apply;
- it is proposed to modify the ceiling up to which taxpayers for whom net income is determined based on income norms, respectively from 100,000 euros to 25,000 euros;
- It is proposed to introduce a monthly ceiling of non-taxable income that is not included in the calculation bases of mandatory social contributions, in the case of income from salaries and similar salaries, of no more than 33% of the basic salary corresponding to the job held; For the part that exceeds the monthly non-taxable ceiling of 33% of the basic salary corresponding to the job held, income tax and mandatory social contributions are due.
- It is proposed to revise the system for granting personal deductions in the case of taxpayers who earn income from salaries at the place where their main job is located.
- in the case of income obtained from gambling, it is proposed to maintain the method of determining income tax by applying a tax scale with income tranches on each gross income, with tax rates between 10% and 40%;
- it is proposed to modify the annual calculation basis of the social insurance contribution and the social health insurance contribution;
- it is proposed that, starting with January 1, 2023, non-alcoholic beverages falling under CN code 2202 10 00 and 2202 99, respectively non-alcoholic beverages containing added sugar or other sweeteners or flavoured, be excluded from the scope of the reduced VAT rate facility of 9%;
- It is proposed that, starting with January 1, 2023, the same VAT rate, namely the 9% rate, be applied both to the delivery of food, including beverages (except alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages containing added sugar or other sweeteners or flavored), intended for human and animal consumption, as well as to restaurant and catering services and hotel accommodation activities.
- It is proposed that, starting from January 1, 2023, the scope of application of the reduced VAT rate of 5% for the delivery of housing to individuals, as part of social policy, be restricted, in the sense that individuals will benefit from this facility only once, respectively to purchase, individually or jointly with another individual/other individuals, a single home whose value does not exceed 600,000 lei, excluding VAT, with the reduced rate of 5%;
- It is proposed to approve, starting with August 1, 2022, the provisions of Law No. 170/2016 regarding the specific tax for certain activities. Persons who owed specific tax for certain activities will be required to pay the tax on microenterprise income, regardless of whether the conditions for applying this taxation system and/or the profit tax for income generated from activities other than those corresponding to specific CAEN codes are met.
