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Romanian Govt OKs Suspending Pollution Tax Until Dec 31 ‘09
Romania's Government approved the suspension of the pollution tax for new Euro 4 cars with less than 2,000 cmc engines, until December 31, 2009.The tax suspension will be enforced as of December 1, 2008. "The tax will be suspended as of December 1, for all new Euro 4 cars, with less than 2,000 cmc engines," the country's Prime Minister Calin Popescu Tariceanu said. “It is not a problem of protecting the automotive industry. The main problem is to support the jobs. I consider that protecting the employment is a Government responsibility,” Tariceanu said. Eliminating the pollution tax for the acquisition of new cars is a great support for the Romanian auto market, but such a measure might contradict the European Commission regulations, Ernest Popovici, president of the local Automotive Manufacturers and Importers Association, or APIA, said Monday. The prime minister reminded that he discussed in the Wednesday morning the matter with Romania's president Traian Basescu.“During the meeting, the two officials shared the same concern regarding the fact that import of second-hand cars affected local car sales,” a statement of the government showed on Wednesday.In Romania, the number of new second-hand cars imported in January-September period rose 104.8% on the year to 205,086 units, while new car registrations fell 2.4% in the same period.
Romanian Govt To Change Fiscal Code, To Include Facilities Of Economic Plan
The fiscal facilities from the Romanian Government's economic support plan will be introduced by modifying the Fiscal Code and the Fiscal Procedure Code, Romania’s Prime Minister Calin Popescu Tariceanu said Wednesday. The main purpose of the support plan is limiting layoffs, Tariceanu said. “We will not delay the adoption of measures for enforcing the economic support plan. We receive several distressing signals from different industries and there is a great risk of collective layoffs that we want to avoid,” the Prime Minister said in Wednesday’s governmental meeting.He also expressed his intention to reduce the vulnerability of the Romanian economy to the effects of the global financial crisis.Last week, the Romanian government presented a four-year plan having a series of fiscal facilities, such as a “fiscal bonus” granted to the persons who pay their taxes on time. Other fiscal facilities from the support plan include measures such as reducing social insurance contributions by 10 percentage points in the next four years, not taxing the reinvested dividends.The government will also give state aids worth EUR50 million for investments that exceed EUR100 million.
Employers to get 1,000 euro bonuses
Romania's Government established on Wednesday, to give 1,000 euro bonuses to the employers that create new jobs and employ laid-offs seeking for work for at least three months, Prime Minister Calin Popescu Tariceanu said after the Government sitting on Wednesday. According to PM Tariceanu the measure was taken through an Emergency Ordinance within the Action Plan for Economic Growth and Jobs.'We established that employers, who create new jobs and hire jobless people seeking for a job for longer than three months, should receive the equivalent of 1,000 euros as a employment stimulating bonus,' PM Tariceanu stressed.
Social security tax drops by 2 pc
Romania's Government decided, on Wednesday, to cut the social security tax by 2 percent and alter the Fiscal Code so that special fiscal encouragement measures should be enforced. The contributions to social insurance will go down 2 percent as of January 2009, as decided through the Emergency Ordinance, Tariceanu said.He underscored that the decision is aimed to support employment in legal conditions.'We will cut the level of social security contributions in order to support employment. As the fiscal year ends in a few days, we have decided to decrease the social security contribution by another 2 percent from 39.5 percent to 37.5 percent. The Government also decided to turn into nontaxable incomes the benefits from bank interests and capital market earnings and the rise in the share capital of CEC Bank by 900 million lei (about 235 million euros), in two tiers.
Executive to raise pensions in 2009
The Government on its Wednesday meeting adopted an Emergency Ordinance to set the pension point at 763.7 lei as of January 1, 2009, according to PM Calin Popescu Tariceanu. He underscored the measure was included in the draft budget on 2009 submitted to Parliament.'The increase in the pension value at 763.7 lei as of January, will have a positive influence on the pensions. The value of the pension point is based on the average salary which is to go up next year, according to the draft budget,' the PM said.