State has to collect overdue taxes 10 times higher than its own arrears
The amounts that the Fiscal authorities are owed by taxpayers who failed to pay their fiscal dues are ten times higher than the state's arrears, but the IMF insists on the state paying its own debts in order to prevent it from being itself a factor of arrearage.
Companies and individuals had 21.9 billion RON (5.1 billion
euros) in overdue debts to the general consolidated budget at the
end of June, while the state's late payments (by 90 days or more)
to taxpayers (in the private and public sector) amounted to 1.95
billion RON (460 million euros) at the end of July, according to
the National Fiscal Administration Agency (ANAF), were ten times
lower.
This makes the state a net creditor, despite continuing to have
significant debt.
On July 31st, local budgets' arrears exceeded 1 billion RON, whilst
overdue amounts to suppliers, as recorded in the state budget,
stood at 787 million RON.
Overdue amounts owed to the social security budget amounted to
almost 129 million RON. The arrears reported by ANAF do not
differentiate between the private and the private sector.
The Government committed in the stand-by arrangement with the
International Monetary Fund (IMF) to cut to zero the arrears to the
private sector, but at each review of the arrangement asked for a
new derogation, after failing to meet the quarterly targets it had
committed to. Last month, the head of the IMF's mission that
reviews the arrangement with Romania, Jeffrey Franks, said that the
state would have to pay around 2 billion RON in accumulated
arrears, while a new derogation from the arrears payment target
could be requested only if "serious efforts" are made to solve the
problem.