Talks in the Coalition on amending the Fiscal Code would be concluded this week, Finance Minister Adrian Câciu announced on Tuesday in Parliament. Sources from the PSD leadership told Digi24.ro that the Social Democrats will support in the Coalition the progressive taxation of special pensions, as well as the salaries of public employees, “those that are higher than the salary of the President of Romania”.
PSD also wants to tax companies with a turnover of more than 100 million euros, and the money to go to a fund to finance education and health projects.
Explaining this intention, PSD chairman Marcel Ciolacu said that the capital needs to be taxed in Romania, not only labour, for only those with low and medium incomes have carried the “burden of the taxes” so far.
“There are about 320 large companies with a turnover of over 100 million euros in Romania. An average of 0.8% profit tax is paid by these companies. In other words, they pay less than micro-enterprises, which pay 1%. At the moment, in Romania, too much work is taxed and we have to find a balance with the taxation of capital “, said Ciolacu. “For 30 years, the burden of taxes and the bulk of taxes has remained, through the taxation of labor, on those with low and medium incomes. A balance must be found in some way. This does not exclude the reorganization of ANAF, of Customs, digitalization – things that will be done in the next period in a more alert way “, he added.
“We are not talking about a solidarity tax in particular. I put it that way because I saw that there is this solidarity tax in Germany. Proposing to create this balance, from my point of view 0.8% profit tax on these large companies seems too little to me”, the SocDem Head also said.
Finance Minister Adrian Câciu confirmed on Tuesday that the adjustment of some facilities and the increase of deductions for people with low incomes were discussed, and the solidarity tax is rather a contribution for the education and health system. According to the minister, this package will bring to the state budget between 1.2 and 1.5 percentage points of GDP. The coalition is due to establish the changes to the Fiscal Code and announce them in the next period, so that the measures will enter into force next year.
“There is no solidarity tax,” said Coalition sources. In fact, Deputy Prime Minister Kelemen Hunor said on Tuesday that there was little chance that the solidarity tax would be introduced.
However, although they do not intend to call it a solidarity tax, the Social Democrats want to tax companies with a turnover of more than 100 million euros, the discussions being that the value of the tax should be between 0.5 and 1% of the turnover. “We are talking about companies that do not cover this amount from corporate tax. In other words, you do not make double taxation”, the quoted sources claim. The money would be directed to a fund to finance education and health projects. The Social Democrats also want the progressive taxation of special pensions and deductions for those with low and medium incomes.
Such deductions could be granted for those with incomes below 6,000 lei. “For those with the minimum wage, we want to lower the income tax, in other words to reduce the taxation of labor, going up in steps to those with average wages, who can make deductions for after school, health insurance or private pension,” PSD sources claim.
The Social Democrats will also propose in the Coalition the taxation of the salaries of the public servants who have a higher income than that of the President of Romania, ie 24,960 lei gross per month. “For special pensions, the threshold would go even lower,” the quoted sources also stated.
Discussions in the Coalition have not yet been finalized, and this week the leaders of PSD, PNL and UDMR will resume. Liberals oppose the introduction of a solidarity tax.