The companies will pay about EUR30 million less for the tax according to the change in the ordinance introducing this tax published in the Official Gazette from the first version of the Finance Ministry. It all happened in two days.
Three ordinances were published in the Official Gazette on Thursday introducing new taxes for the energy sector. They were published shortly after being made public on the Finance Ministry’s website early this month. Many of those affected by the new taxes said at the time they had been taken by surprise and had had no communication with the authorities on the matter prior to the new steps being taken.
The new normative acts stipulate that gas producers should transfer 60% of the additional revenue derived from the price deregulation to the state budget for two years, 2013 and 2014 staring with February 1. Companies exploiting natural resources other than gas will have to pay a tax of 0.5% of the revenue and the natural gas and electricity transmission and distribution companies will have to pay a tax, too.
The latter category got a significant reduction of the taxes they will have to pay, with the emergency ordinance draft amended and the new version published in the Official Gazette.
Electricity and gas transmission companies were initially supposed to pay 0.45 lei (EUR0.1) per megawatt of energy transmitted to the distribution system and RON1.7/MW for the energy transmitted to the end users. Gas and electricity distributors were required to pay RON1.25 per megawatt. The new version of the ordinance set the tax at RON0.1 per megawatt for the power sent to the distribution systems and RON0.85 per megawatt for the power transmitted to end users, while distribution companies will pay RON0.75/MW.
“We are now working on a projection of the amounts we will have to pay in 2013 and 2014,” said Octavian Lohan, deputy general manager of Transelectrica (TEL.RO), the operator of the national power grid.
The modification of new tax for the eight electricity distribution companies, only three of which still state-owned, and the two natural gas distribution companies, both controlled by foreign investors, means they will have to pay about EUR30 million less, according to ZF’s calculations based on the data about the amount of power and gas distributed by each company in 2011.
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)