Category: Romania
Romania implements new rules for establishing tax residence
New Romanian legislation in force for foreign legal entities. ... - Continue reading
France Exits EU’s Excessive Deficit Procedure
France has made adequate fiscal consolidation efforts to exit the EU’s excessive deficit procedure, the EU Council recently agreed, while calling on Hungary and Romania to adopt tax or expenditure measures to shore up their finances. The findings came alongside the release of “country specific recommendations” for each of the… – Continue reading
Deloitte: Romania faces growing fiscal competition as 8 EU member states cut corporate tax rates since 2017
Romania will be able to count less on the low taxation advantage in order to attract investments due to growing competition, after eight EU member states have reduced their corporate tax rates since 2017, according to a study released by Deloitte Romania. “Even in the new context, the Romanian corporate… – Continue reading
ANAF´s almost unnoticed changes of rights and obligations
Recently, ANAF announced the introduction of new Split VAT rules, At the same time, though, the tax authority made changes[i] to the procedural tax law which have largely been overlooked in the intense debate over Split VAT. But unnoticed or not, these changes are important for businesses in Romania. Four… – Continue reading
Lukoil involved in tax evasion case in Romania
Romanian prosecutors of the Anti-Organized Crime Directorate (DIICOT), the Bacau office, carried out searches in Bucharest and six counties last Friday, in a tax evasion case with a damage of over RON 9 million (EUR 1.9 million), which involves the legal representative of Lukoil Romania. The defendants allegedly built four… – Continue reading
Romania to fine citizens who leave the country without announcing
Romanians who leave the country for more than six months need to fill in a form at the Tax Agency (ANAF) starting January 1 next year. Otherwise they will receive fines ranging between RON 50-100 (EUR 11-22), according to the Finance Ministry. The obligation to notify the authorities on leaving… – Continue reading
Analysis: Romania seeks tighter control of multinationals’ financial data
The government is looking to implement EU Directives on tax avoidance, and is set to receive more financial information from multinational groups active in Romania. Tax experts suggest that large corporations might reassess their business models in order to meet the demands of the fiscal authorities in Romania and across… – Continue reading
Deloitte: Multinationals believe there is a radical global change in tax, tax control
Representatives of most multinational companies believe that there is a radical global change in both tax and tax control. Accordingly, the global tax model is undergoing a process of alignment with other principles, and the approach of the tax authorities during controls becomes stricter, a survey by Deloitte published in… – Continue reading
New reporting obligations for multinational enterprise groups
The Government Emergency Ordinance no. 42/2017 amending Law no. 207/2015 regarding the Fiscal Procedure Code (“GEO 42/2017“), entered into force on 13 June 2017, transposes within the Romanian legislation the EU Directive 2016/881 which provides the mandatory automatic exchange of information from reports that multinational enterprise groups (“MNE Groups“) must… – Continue reading
Romania Should Avoid Further Tax Cuts: IMF
Noting a substantial drop in the tax burden in Romania, the International Monetary Fund has called on lawmakers to avoid further tax cuts. The IMF said that successive tax burden-cutting measures, impacting value-added tax (VAT), fuel excises, and health contributions had resulted in a drop in revenue worth nearly 2.5… – Continue reading
Romania Joins BEPS Inclusive Framework
Romania approved legislation to join the OECD’s base erosion and profit shifting Inclusive Framework on March 2. As an Associate member under the Inclusive Framework, Romania will work on an equal footing with other associates and G-20 and OECD countries in the development of further BEPS standards and the peer… – Continue reading
HUNGARY COULD BE A CORPORATE PROFIT TAX HAVEN IN THE EUROPEAN UNION
The new 9 percent flat corporate profit tax – to be introduced 1st of January 2017 – will put Hungary in a very good position in the international race for investments as Hungary will offer even better conditions than Ireland and Cyprus, which are both often regarded as the European… – Continue reading
Romanian Government ready to drop charges for small tax evasion if damage paid
Romania’s National Tax Agency (ANAF) may drop the criminal charges for damages of up to RON 50,000 (EUR 11,000) from tax evasion if the accused pays the amount and penalties before the first court hearing, according to Finance Minister Anca Dragu. The taxpayers will be able to benefit from this… – Continue reading
Romania plans to join project for fighting big companies’ tax avoidance
Romania plans to join the Base erosion and profit shifting (BEPS) program as an associate member. The program equips governments with domestic and international instruments to address tax avoidance. The program’s objective is to have profits taxed where economic activities generating the profits are performed. The Finance Ministry has published… – Continue reading
Uzbekistan, Romania improve co-op in tax sphere
Uzbekistan and Romania have signed a protocol on making amendments to the convention on avoidance of double taxation and prevention of fiscal evasion with respect to taxes on income and capital, Uzbekistan’s State Tax Committee told Trend. In accordance with this document, it is envisaged to include new provisions meeting… – Continue reading
Canada willingly makes tax deals with tax havens
The seeds of Canadian corporations hiding billions of dollars in offshore tax havens were sown more than 40 years ago, after the Canadian government pursued a series of tax treaties with tiny Caribbean and European nations. The 92 tax treaties now signed with countries such as Barbados, Jamaica and Malta… – Continue reading
TTIP could block Governments from cracking down on tax avoidance, study warns
Similar trade agreements have been used to facilitate apparent tax avoidance in the past A controversial new trade deal between the EU and the United States could make it more difficult to fight tax avoidance, a new report has warned. TTIP, the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, is expected to… – Continue reading
Taxi King found to have evaded lenders via offshore trusts
Things just keep getting worse for Gene the Taxi King. A federal judge ruled Tuesday that New York taxi mogul Evgeny “Gene” Freidman illegally transferred more than $60 million in real estate assets into offshore trusts as a means of evading ex-lender Citibank. The ruling, which cited “numerous and glaring”… – Continue reading
IP BOX: Italian and European Legal Framework
On 22 December 2014, the Italian Parliament approved the Budget for 2015.40 Among other measures, the Law introduces the possibility of an exemption from corporate income tax (IRES, generally levied at 27,5%) and local tax (IRAP, generally levied at 3,9%) on income derived from qualifying intangible assets (such as patents,… – Continue reading
KPMG releases new global tax survey; economic and social pressures expected to impact global tax system
Taxpayers in Romania and throughout the world can expect to pay more tax in the years ahead as governments expand their tax systems to repay debt and pay for increased social welfare, and international efforts to update tax legislation for the 21st century take hold. These are the conclusions of… – Continue reading
Blacklisted HK: The Spanish Case
The blacklisting saga did not start with Spain, but it did end with a timely correction related to it. Harbour Times explains how Hong Kong was taken off the Spanish tax haven list. Friends of Harbour Times would be familiar with the remedy of Hong Kong being named a non-cooperative… – Continue reading
Hong Kong – Romania: Tax Treaty Signed
On 18 November 2015, Hong Kong and Romania signed an Income Tax Treaty. The treaty will come into force after the two countries exchange ratification instruments. The provisions of the treaty will have effect from 1 January of the calendar year next following that in which the agreement enters into… – Continue reading
CEE countries must share best practices better to successfully combat VAT fraud
Officials from the ministries of finance and economy of five CEE countries (Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia) have called for a joint approach to combat VAT fraud and increase VAT collection in a conference hosted by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) in Budapest on Thursday. According to the EU Commission data,… – Continue reading
Hong Kong and Romania enter into tax pact
Hong Kong (HKSAR) – The Financial Secretary, Mr John C Tsang, on behalf of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, today (November 18), signed in Bucharest an agreement on the avoidance of double taxation with Romania. Romania’s State Secretary for Public Finance, Mr Attila Gy?rgy, signed on… – Continue reading
FS visits Bucharest
Hong Kong (HKSAR) – The Financial Secretary, Mr John C Tsang, arrived at Bucharest, Romania today (November 17, Bucharest time), for his two-day visit to strengthen economic and trade ties between Hong Kong and Romania. Mr Tsang first held a meeting with the Representatives of the Romanian Banking Association. Mr… – Continue reading
HMRC publishes a policy paper setting out planned negotiations on DTAs and TIEAs
On November 13, 2015 the UK HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) published a policy paper setting out planned negotiations on Double Taxation Agreements (DTAs) and Tax Information Exchange Agreements (TIEAs). According to the policy paper HMRC will begin negotiations on double taxation agreements with: • Nepal • Romania • Trinidad… – Continue reading
Teare signs tax agreement with Romania
The Isle of Man has signed a Tax Information Exchange Agreement (TIEA) with Romania. The TIEA was signed during a ceremony in London on 4 November 2015, by His Excellency Mihnea Ioan Motoc, Romania Ambassador in London and Eddie Teare MHK, the Isle of Man’s Treasury Minister. Mr Teare said:… – Continue reading
Sixteen States’ Tax Transparency Frameworks Reviewed
Sixteen peer review reports were released at the recent plenary meeting of the OECD Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes on October 29-30, 2015. The release of the reports follows reviews of those territories’ legislation for the exchange of tax information and their frameworks for… – Continue reading
OECD: Global Forum on tax transparency pushes forward international co-operation against tax evasion
Major implementation milestones are being met by members of the world’s leading forum on tax transparency as the international community continues to move ahead towards greater tax transparency. The imminent shift to the automatic exchange of information will send a strong warning to tax evaders. Significant strides towards a major… – Continue reading
The Mayor’s Free Land
A company controlled by Mayor of Belgrade Sinisa Mali and his family obtained more than 10 hectares of agricultural land worth anywhere from €123,000 to € 250,000 (US$140,000 to US$290,000) for free from a privatized state company. Problem is, the land wasn’t the company’s to give, but was still owned… – Continue reading
EU, World Bank urge Romania to step up efforts to recover graft money
The European Commission and the World Bank urged Romania on Monday to push ahead in its anti-corruption crackdown by recovering stolen assets following court convictions. Corruption in Romania has deterred foreign investors, while tax evasion and bribery put a further strain on the public finances. Anti-corruption prosecutors have launched investigations… – Continue reading
NBR to sign deal with Bhutan to avoid double taxation
Bangladesh is set to sign an agreement with Bhutan to avoid double taxation to boost investments, trade and facilitate information exchange between the two Saarc nations, the National Board of Revenue said in a statement. A team led by NBR Chairman Md Nojibur Rahman is now in Thimpu to take… – Continue reading
Parliament ratifies Bulgaria-Romania agreement on double taxation avoidance
Sofia. Bulgarian parliament ratified an agreement between Bulgaria and Romania on the double taxation avoidance and prevention of tax concealing, inked in April 2015. The current agreement between the countries was signed in 1994 and does not meet the economic relations between the countries. The new one offers a system… – Continue reading
EU States Told To Address Widening VAT Gap
Tax Commissioner Pierre Moscovici has urged European Union (EU) member states to “take the steps needed to fight tax evasion and tax fraud,” after new figures showed that the value-added tax (VAT) gap did not narrow in 2013. According to a new Commission report, the total amount of VAT lost… – Continue reading
The common EU corporate tax is a travesty
Whatever one thinks of Europe’s ruling class, one thing is undeniable: it has chutzpah. Like a gambler who has lost his savings on roulette and decides to bet his house in hope that his luck will turn, the EU leadership is upping the ante in the destructive pursuit of an… – Continue reading
Romania Court Rejects Appeal by Lukoil Manager in Fraud Case
A Romanian court has rejected an appeal by the general manager and six executives of a subsidiary of Russian oil company Lukoil who have been indicted on tax evasion and money laundering charges. The Court of Appeal in Ploiesti dismissed the appeal made by general manager Andrey Bogdanov, a Russian… – Continue reading
Romanian prosecutors charge Lukoil with €1.76bn fraud
Romanian prosecutors have completed its investigations into the alleged fraud committed at a local Lukoil refinery and on August 4 indicted the Russian-owned Petrotel refinery, its Russian director-general and five other officials. Prosecutors estimate the losses to the state at RON 7.6bn (€1.76bn), and have seized shares and bank accounts… – Continue reading
Bulgaria cabinet approved agreement with Romania on double taxation avoidance
Sofia. Bulgarian government approved the agreement between Bulgaria and Romania on the double taxation avoidance and prevention of tax concealing, inked in April 2015, the press office of the Bulgarian Council of Ministers announced. The document is filed for ratification by the parliament. The current agreement between the countries was… – Continue reading
Romanian prosecutors seize Lukoil assets in probe: agency
Romanian prosecutors seized assets of Russian oil firm Lukoil worth up to 2 billion euros ($2.22 billion) in an investigation on suspicion of money laundering, a local court was quoted as saying on Wednesday by state agency Agerpres. In October of last year Romanian prosecutors, police and customs inspectors raided… – Continue reading
BIBA: Time to talk tax havens
ARBADOS’ CONTROVERSIAL BLACKLISTING by a group of European Union (EU) countries is “hypocritical” and “grossly discriminatory”, says outgoing Barbados International Business Association (BIBA) president Connie Smith. But Smith also thinks the time is right for “engaging in bilateral discussions which could hopefully conclude in double taxation agreements and bilateral investment… – Continue reading
Business Monday: BIBA official: See blacklist as an opportunity
“THE decision by a group of European Union (EU) Member States to blacklist Barbados as being non-cooperative and further claim that Barbados and 29 other countries, mostly small islands, do not meet its standards of transparency, exchange of information and fair tax competition, is hypocritical and on the face of… – Continue reading
Authorities find EUR 7 mln tax evasion in Bucharest’s China Town
Romania’s Directorate for Investigation of Organized Crime and Terrorism (DIICOT) prosecutors carried out searches at the Red Dragon, China Town, Sam Expo and Smart Expo shopping centers on Friday last week, following notifications from the Tax Authority ANAF. They found 70 companies that have damaged the state budget by over… – Continue reading
Qatar’s Emir to approve an agreement for visa cancellation with Romania
Qatar’s Emir, HH Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, ratified a draft agreement on avoidance of double taxation and prevention of fiscal evasion with respect to taxes on income between Qatar and South Africa as well as its attached draft protocol, which were signed in Pretoria on March 6, 2015…. – Continue reading
Chamber of Commerce president: Romania loses EUR 502 every second because of tax evasion
Romania loses EUR 502 every second, EUR 30,000 every minute, and some EUR 16 billion every year because of tax evasion, said Mihai Daraban, President of Romania’s Chamber of Commerce and Industry. “This represents about 70% of the tax evasion which state institutions, NGOs or the Fiscal Council calculated. In… – Continue reading
FATCA – Which Countries Are In And Out
FATCA – Which Countries Are In And Out The controversial US Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) law is set to start from July 1, 2014, so with less than 21 days to go, here’s a look at which countries are in and who is outside of the tax network…. – Continue reading
Proposed U.S. Model Treaty Provisions May Dramatically Alter International Tax Landscape
The U.S. Model Income Tax Treaty (the U.S. Model Treaty) generally represents the United States’ opening position in treaty negotiations. As a result, when changes to the treaty are proposed, international tax practitioners should be aware of the potential impact those changes can have on their existing inbound U.S. structures…. – Continue reading
Victor Ponta says he would face court as Romanian MPs uphold immunity
Prime minister says he has proof he is innocent of charges of money laundering and tax evasion while president calls for his resignation Victor Ponta, Romania’s prime minister, said on Tuesday that he was prepared to go to court to answer charges of money-laundering, forgery and tax evasion as the… – Continue reading
Fugitive Romanian businessman charged with tax evasion found abroad
Romanian businessman Florian Walter, who fled the country after local prosecutors charged him with tax evasion, was located abroad, and authorities have asked for his extradition, reports local Agerpres. The Prahova Court declared Florian Walter internationally wanted, after previously issuing an arrest warrant on his name. Romanian authorities, which have… – Continue reading
