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* Excise duty rise to send diesel price up by some 2 pct in 2012
Diesel will grow by about 2 pct more expensive in 2012 following the government's decision passed Tuesday evening to increase the relevant excise duty, said Finance Minister Gheorghe Ialomitianu, citing an estimated figure.
The government passed an Emergency Ordinance amending the Tax Code as of 2012. Taxes and rates stay in line with the 2011 level, said Ialomitianu, but some of the measures initiated by the Finance Ministry include a 4.4 pct increase in the excise duty charged on diesel from 358 euros tonne to 374 euros tonne, or from 302.51 euros per 1,000 litres to 316.03 euros per 1,000 litres respectively.
'Of course, there will be an impact on prices, my colleagues have calculated an estimated 2 pct,' said Ialomitianu. According to the Finance Minister, this rise will bring an extra RON 292.3 million to the state budget (almost 68 million euros).The government grounds this decision on the obligations Romania has towards the European Union in this regard.
The government also maintains the coffee excise tax in 2012.
Another measure provided by the GEO is the expansion of reverse taxation for waste, given that the procedure is currently limited to 'materials and products that were the result of combinations, of various operations.'
The government takes efforts to combat tax evasion in this area.
'I'd say some of the measures are aimed at helping the business environment, some others are also aimed at combating tax evasion. We were bound to respect the commitments we took towards the EU at the time of our accession,' said Ialomitianu. Another amendment to the Tax Code consists of a 50 pct deduction of fuel expenditures for road transport vehicles, other than those used for production. The VAT for the purchase of such motor vehicles is also reduced 50 pct. 'This means that whoever buys a car - I am referring here to legal entities - for road transport gets a 50 pct fuel consumption deductibility as of January 1, as well as a 50 pct VAT deductibility at the acquisition,' said the Finance Minister.
Another facility offered for these transport means arises from the calculation of the return on investments, which will be 50 pct taken into account at the calculation of the profit tax.
'These vehicles are used both for company activities and for personal use, so they become a flatlined expense. We calculated that the profit tax would generate RON 282 million. This money stays with the trading companies,' FinMin Ialomitianu said.
He also mentioned the introduction of fiscal rules for banking system taxpayers that apply the International Financial Reporting Standards - IFRS.
These rules include a tax break for net amounts registered in early 2012 resulting from the establishment and release of provisions following the enforcement of IFRS as long as they are kept in the reserve account, as well as the deductibility of IFRS provisions and additional provisions resulted from the prudential filters applied by BNR.
A third regulatory measure agreed upon with BNR is the grant of tax neutrality for the differences resulting from the application of the current accounting treatment and the IFRS treatment for various income and expense items specific to the banking system.
'The central bank said that for reasons of prudence, it would be good to keep this difference in revenues in the accounting records...and as long as they represent funding sources for the banks, they should not be taxed,' said Finance Minister Gheorghe Ialomitianu.