Around 20,000-30,000 companies, which before the crisis had no debts to the state the budget, are now in this situation, said Ovidiu Nicolescu, president of the National Council of Small and Medium Private Enterprises in Romania (CNIPMMR). In his opinion, if the state insists on charging these penalties, half of the indebted companies will “die” in one year.
“It is true that the budget will miss out on the money from these penalties, but on the long-term it is more important to save the companies,” said Nicolescu.
CNIPMMR believes this measure should be included in the 2012-2014 fiscal strategy, alongside, among others, allotting 0.5% of the GDP to the SME sector, reducing social contributions and the VAT by five points, and lowering the property tax by 50%, to match the lower market value of buildings and land.
The SME representatives nonetheless welcomed the strategy’s adoption, pointing out that it is the first time Romania has such a document.