Noutati
Fiscal procedure code
Vineri, 26 Noiembrie 2007
The recent modifications of the Fiscal Procedure Code will highly increase the operation costs of small and medium-sized enterprises. Such enterprises will be mostly affected by the provision according to which “the annual fiscal statements of tax payers - legal persons will be certified by a fiscal consultant”.
This measure will be applied starting with 1 January 2008 to all Romanian companies excepting those which audit their financial results. The latter are generally large companies, multinationals and also the ones listed on the capital market. Authorized natural persons are not affected by this modification.
Thus, starting with the beginning of the next year, besides the accountant they must pay, small and medium-sized enterprises must also pay the fiscal consultant who signs and stamps the annual financial results.
And many of the microenterprises might not be able to bear these additional costs because the consultants will practice different tariffs based on the complexity of the operations developed by the company.
However, the new legislative provisions have some good parts. One of them, meant to diminish the bureaucracy, is the companies’ payment of the taxes and duties owed to the state budget in a sole account, by using two payment orders.
In a first stage, meaning starting with the taxes for the month of September, of this facility will benefit only the companies which have no debts to the state budget and which pay in full the amounts owed.
The remaining companies will pay the taxes and duties in a sole account starting with 1 January 2008. Until the present time, companies had to complete between 11 and 50 payment orders per month, one for each duty, tax or contribution to the state social insurances budget.
Another provision which restricts possible abuses is the limitation to the 150th part of the fiscal debts amount in case of a company’s forced execution.
Starting with 1 October, the date of coming in force of the last modifications and completions of the Fiscal Procedure Code, the penalties for all fiscal violations have been increased three to 20 times and the sanctions will be enforced only to those who do not observe the law.
But such penalty increases have not been brought to the knowledge of the population and companies through a large information campaign initiated by the competent institutions. The major social impact involved by such measure on all tax payers would have required thorough information by as many communication channels as possible.