The finance ministry wants to introduce separate company accounts for the payment of the value added tax starting October, citing a bid to curb tax evasion. The ministry said the measure would be optional as of September and mandatory starting October.
Romania’s SME Council said in a statement Wednesday the measure would have negative effects on small and medium-sized enterprises, raising companies’ costs with separate bank accounts and accounting computer programs, affecting cash flow.
“Romania would be the only country in the EU to apply split VAT payments generally and forcibly starting October 1, 2017, without consulting interested parties, without impact analyses, without SME testing, without testing the feasibility of the mechanism, without clarifying procedures, without informing and preparing taxpayers,” the council said.
Ioana Iorgulescu, executive manager of EY Romania’s tax assistance department, said the mechanism would complicate companies’ business relations, increase bureaucracy and costs and the implementation deadline is unrealistically short.