Romanian Cos Posting Losses May Pay Turnover-Based Lump Sum Tax

Thus, companies reporting a turnover of up to EUR15.000 will pay an annual lump-sum tax of EUR500, and those with a turnover between EUR15.000 and EUR30.000 will pay an annual lump sum tax of EUR1.000.

"We proposed that companies with up to EUR15,000 annual turnover should pay zero tax, but the Ministry of Finance disagreed," Coraci said, after a  meeting Monday between the Ministry of Finance and representatives of  trade unions and employers’ associations.

Companies with a turnover between EUR30,000 and EUR100,000 that register losses might pay a EUR1,500 tax, he added.

Romanian hotels, restaurants, commerce or real estate companies will have to pay an annual profit tax of 0.5% of their recorded revenues if the tax that should be paid to the state is lower than this value, but not less than 6,500 lei (EUR1=RON4.1549), according to an emergency ordinance draft.

Micro-plants will have to pay an annual tax of minimum RON6,500 to the state, if the tax that should be paid to the state, of 3% of the revenues, is lower than this value.

Companies with less than nine employees and an annual turnover of less than EUR100,000 can currently choose between a tax worth 3% of their revenues or 16% of their profit.

The government says the introduction of the lump-sum tax is necessary as more than one third of the registered companies report losses despite a high turnover.

The argumentation is included in a document that shows that 39.2% of the registered companies reported losses in 2007 on a cumulated turnover of RON134 billion.