Main amendments related to the business environment
Romania has declared state of emergency on March 16th, 2020 for a period of 30 days in response to the evolution of the epidemiological situation determined by the spread of COVID-19. Given the difficult economic context caused by the spread of COVID-19 virus, a series of measures to support the business environment has been released, such as:
- interest and late penalties for the due fiscal obligations starting from the date of entry into force of the emergency ordinance and unpaid up to 30 days after the end of the state of emergency shall not be calculated and due;
- these tax obligations are not considered as outstanding tax liabilities;
- the measures of enforced execution by appropriation of the budgetary debts are suspended or not initiated, with the exception of the enforced executions which are applied for the recovery of the budgetary debts established by judicial decisions pronounced in criminal matters. The measures to suspend the forced execution by default on the following amounts representing income and money availability are applied, through the effect of the law, by the credit institutions or third parties, without other formalities from the fiscal bodies;
These fiscal measures shall cease within 30 days of the cessation of the state of emergency.
Companies that pay corporate tax in advance will receive a 5% or 10% rebate on this tax
Taxpayers paying corporate tax, regardless of the declaration and payment system, who pay the tax due for the first quarter of 2020, respectively for the advance payment for the same quarter, up to the deadline of April 25, 2020 inclusive, benefit from a bonus of 5% or 10%, calculated on the corporate tax due.
For the payment of the tax on the income of micro-enterprises for the first quarter of 2020, until April 25, 2020, taxpayers benefit from a 10% discount calculated on the tax due for that quarter. Large taxpayers will have a 5% discount, while small and medium taxpayers will benefit from a 10% tax reduction.
The provisions also apply to taxpayers who have opted for a fiscal year other than the calendar year, if they pay the tax due for the quarter/quarterly advance payment until the due date of April 25-June 25, 2020.
Multiannual SME Support Program
The Ministry of Public Finance will implement a multiannual program to support SMEs to mitigate the effects of the spread of the virus COVID-19, by guaranteeing loans, subsidizing interest for these financing, facilities for companies experiencing financial difficulties, extending the deadlines for submitting applications for restructuring of the budgetary obligations and the payment deadlines of the local taxes due by the population. The Treasury will suspend the appropriations for the population, and SMEs that obtain an emergency certificate will be able to defer payment of utilities and rents.
For micro or small enterprises, the state will provide guarantees for credits/credit lines for financing working capital, excluding interest, commissions and bank charges related to the state guaranteed credit, at a maximum of 90%. The maximum value of the financing will be 500,000 lei for micro-enterprises and 1 million lei for small enterprises.