Lump-sum tax pushed for 2011
Bars, restaurants, taxi drivers, small hotel owners,
hairdressers, repair shops and auto washes will not have to deal
with the lump sum tax this year, which was heavily debated over the
last two months, as the Government intends to continue to enforce
the minimum turnover tax introduced on the 1st of May, 2009 until
2011, official sources say.
The main reason - the minimum tax turned out to be a steady stream
of income for the budget, and is estimated to account for 0.6% of
the budget revenues this year while the contribution of the
lump-sum tax is hard to quantify and the IMF will not tolerate
additional uncertainties in terms of revenues.
The state expected to collect 355 million RON (84 million euros)
from the minimal tax last year, but the revenues collected in the
eight months it was in force were double that figure, reaching
about 700 million RON (166 million euros), pushing this year's
target to about 1 billion RON (some 240 million euros).
The minimal tax, introduced about a year ago after pressure from
the Fund in order to get additional revenues to the budget and get
rid of inactive companies, was a "hot potato" for the Boc
government, causing more than 130,000 companies to suspend
operations and several thousand to dissolve.
This led the Government in December 2009 to start talking about
"rethinking" this tax and introducing a lump sum tax centred on
certain types of activities.