Business Guide to Romania* - Bayern - Europa
Business Guide to Romania* - Bayern - Europa
Business Guide to Romania* - Bayern - Europa
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Chapter 11<br />
Fiscal Procedure<br />
Provided by David & Baias, correspondent law<br />
firm of PricewaterhouseCoopers in Romania<br />
■ New principles introduced such as: the rule of good<br />
faith, the right of the taxpayer <strong>to</strong> express its point of<br />
view, the confidentiality of information<br />
■ Tax registration within 30 days from the<br />
incorporation date<br />
■ For 2005 the late payment penalties 0.5%/month<br />
and late payment interest 0.06 %/day<br />
A new Fiscal Procedure Code entered in<strong>to</strong> force on 1<br />
January 2004 that unifies former legislation regulating tax<br />
audits, collection of budget receivables, as well as<br />
legislation on tax returns, tax assessment and tax<br />
jurisdiction. It applies <strong>to</strong> taxes and duties payable both <strong>to</strong><br />
the state budget and local budgets, as well as <strong>to</strong> cus<strong>to</strong>m<br />
duties and payables from contributions, fines and other<br />
amounts treated as revenues <strong>to</strong> the state budget or other<br />
budgets. The Romanian Government has also issued<br />
norms containing detailed legal provisions for the<br />
implementation of the Fiscal Procedure Code.<br />
The Romanian Parliament has also enacted a new law<br />
governing the procedure for challenging administrative<br />
acts (including those of the tax authorities), which entered<br />
in<strong>to</strong> force at the beginning of 2005.<br />
11.1 General Principles<br />
Several important principles governing the relations<br />
between taxpayers and tax authorities have been<br />
enacted. These principles are the rule of good faith, the<br />
right of the taxpayer <strong>to</strong> express its point of view, tax<br />
secrecy (confidentiality of information) and the active role<br />
of the tax authorities in advising taxpayers on the correct<br />
application of tax legislation.<br />
52 PricewaterhouseCoopers - <strong>Business</strong> <strong>Guide</strong> <strong>to</strong> Romania 2005<br />
The fiscal legislation is <strong>to</strong> be construed in a uniform and<br />
non-discrimina<strong>to</strong>ry manner. To this end, the Central Fiscal<br />
Commission has been established as the only entity<br />
empowered <strong>to</strong> issue official interpretations of the tax<br />
legislation.<br />
As a rule, revenues are subject <strong>to</strong> taxation regardless of<br />
whether they are generated by legal or illegal activities.<br />
Liability of Other Persons<br />
Shareholders, direc<strong>to</strong>rs, managers and other persons may<br />
be held liable for the duties of the taxpayer under certain<br />
circumstances (e.g. persons provoking the insolvency of<br />
the deb<strong>to</strong>r by transferring the ownership over the deb<strong>to</strong>r's<br />
assets or hiding such assets; persons acquiring in bad<br />
faith the deb<strong>to</strong>r's assets within three years of the deb<strong>to</strong>r's<br />
insolvency). As a general rule, the liability of the<br />
shareholders may not extend beyond the value of their<br />
contribution <strong>to</strong> the share capital (except for the cases<br />
listed in this code).<br />
Rules Governing Evidence<br />
Specific rules apply insofar as burden of proof is<br />
concerned. Taxpayers should thus produce evidence<br />
sustaining the facts included in tax declarations, whilst tax<br />
authorities should base their tax decisions on a factual<br />
and legal perspective.<br />
Persons bound <strong>to</strong> provide relevant information <strong>to</strong> the tax<br />
authorities and persons who may refuse <strong>to</strong> provide<br />
information are also mentioned in the Fiscal Procedure<br />
Code. Special obligations are imposed on the banks that<br />
are required <strong>to</strong> communicate on a monthly basis data<br />
regarding the names of individuals opening or closing<br />
accounts.<br />
Fiscal Administrative Acts<br />
Specific rules apply <strong>to</strong> the preparation and serving of acts<br />
issued by the tax authorities <strong>to</strong> the taxpayers. The code