Accountants' protest against the new tax measures

The members of the Employers' Association of Accountants from Romania and other specialists in the field will protest on Monday, July 8, against "legislative abuses and oppressive fiscal measures" that deeply affect every entrepreneur, economist, accountant and taxpayer in Romania, according to a press release issued by the employers' organization .

The quoted source says: "We are at a turning point for Romania's economic future. Legislative abuses and oppressive tax measures deeply affect every entrepreneur, economist, accountant and taxpayer in this country. In recent months, we have witnessed an avalanche of legislative changes, appearing on average every two working days. It is impossible to ask tax payers to permanently adjust their businesses or personal budgets to such a chaotic pace. This instability only stifles development and innovation, negatively affecting the national economy. Since its establishment, every company is treated as a potential evader, and this pressure is amplified by more than 60 institutions with control functions, without providing adequate guidance and advice.

The protest, entitled "No chaos in fiscal legislation", will start at 8:30 in Victoriei Square, at 9:30 it will march towards the headquarters of the Ministry of Finance in Constitution Square, where a public protest meeting will take place between 10:45 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. Employer representatives request legislative predictability by establishing a clear calendar of tax changes, with a period of at least six months before implementation.

"The protest concerns not only the recent issue of e-VAT and e-Invoice, but also numerous other fiscal and legislative abuses. Ignoring democratic tools and decision-making transparency, adopting emergency ordinances without public consultation and without the involvement of specialists are just some of the aspects that have brought us here. Also, the violation of personal data by declaring all purchase invoices of natural persons and the delegation of ANAF powers to taxpayers are unacceptable practices that must stop. Another crucial point is the requirement to change cash registers again to print QR codes without offering tax deductions. These measures are abusive and costly for companies. Moreover, there are reasonable suspicions that the normative act relating to e-VAT is aimed at delaying VAT refunds, thus burdening the private sector with the financing of the public budget without a true reform of public spending", the cited press release states.

In this context, accountants call for legislative predictability by establishing a clear calendar of tax changes, with a period of at least six months before implementation. They demand respect for social dialogue and decision-making transparency, the real involvement of the business environment and specialists in the process of developing tax policies, the simplification of tax procedures by eliminating redundant declarations and unnecessary bureaucratic requirements.

The Employers' Association of Family Physicians (APMA) expressed its unconditional support for this protest, emphasizing the importance of a transparent and stable fiscal system not only for the business environment, but also for the health system and for the whole society. Thus, APMA believes that a fair and predictable taxation is essential for the optimal functioning of all economic and social sectors, and actively joins the change initiatives proposed by the protesters.

We remind you that on June 21, the Government approved an emergency ordinance, which was not subject to public consultation, by which it introduced new rules regarding the e-Invoice system, as well as the pre-completed statement regarding e-VAT. Following the protests of accounting experts regarding the e-VAT that was to apply from September 1, the Government adopted a new emergency ordinance by which it decided to postpone this measure until January 1, 2025, although accountants would like to eliminate it.

Marcel Boloş, the Minister of Finance, argued the e-VAT measure through the 35 billion lei not collected annually regarding VAT.