Amendments to the Fiscal code starting with 1 January 2014By Theodor Artenie, Managing Director Schoenherr Tax Bucharest Government Emergency Ordinance no. 102/14.11.2013 (GEO 102/2013) was published in Romania’s Official Gazette no. 703 of 15.11.2013 and it amends the provisions of Law 571/2003 regarding the Fiscal code, as subsequently amended and supplemented.The most important amendments that will come into force starting with 1 January 2014 are:Title II – Profit tax ·         Taxpayers can now opt for a fiscal year different from the calendar year, in certain conditions. New provisions regarding the tax reporting and payment obligations are introduced accordingly.·         Revenues from dividends, sale of participation titles or liquidation of the companies in which taxpayers hold participations are non-taxable revenues, if the following conditions are met:o    The legal entity which is the source for the respective revenues (i.e. the legal entity which distributes the dividends, or the legal entity whose participation titles are sold or which is subject to liquidation) is established in Romania or in a state with which Romania has a double tax treaty in place; and...more »

Increasing productivity and improving cost efficiency are common objectives for most companies, being at the same time a real challenge given the sustainable development issues that must be considered as well as the stricter regulations imposed by the environmental law....more »

The OPCOM trading platforms will be available to foreign gas producers once the energy law no. 123/2012 will be modified. Romanian Government will send the Parliament a draft law in this regard, most likely in October, in order to upgrade it as per the EU Rules, according to Romanian Minister of Energy, Constantin Nita....more »

by Theodor Artenie, Managing Director Schoenherr Tax BucharestGovernment Emergency Ordinance no. 88/2013 regarding the adoption of fiscal-budgetary measures for fulfilling certain commitments agreed with international organizations and amending and completing certain normative acts, published in Official Gazette of Romania, Part I brings a series of amendments regarding the social health insurance contribution....more »

by Cristina Stamboli, Senior Associate, NOERR  It is of notoriety that even if the legal framework of the public-private partnerships (hereinafter referred to as “PPPs”) in Romania was set up as a distinct law governing PPPs projects since 2010, the respective piece of legislation was almost entirely neglected mainly due to the lack of IT support from ESPP (in Romanian SEAP) and other setbacks for structuring a PPP project. That happened while for instance France alone accounted 62% of the overall European market value in 2011 followed by UK, Germany, Italy, Belgium, Spain etc( according to EPEC review of the European market in 2011). ...more »

Back in 2005 - 2007, when real estate fever was at its highest, one could hardly make a transaction without hearing words such as “fast”, “limited due diligence”, “red flag/issue-only report” etc. In the same time, due to levels of prices for lands within cities limits, a lot of investors turned their attention towards lands located outside city limits, either at city borders or within nearby satellite localities. ...more »

The reverse charge mechanism is a means by which, in certain circumstances, the liability to charge VAT on a particular transaction shifts from the supplier to the beneficiary. In most of the cases, this liability arises at the same time as the beneficiary’s right to claim input VAT credit for the same amount of VAT. In practical terms, if a particular transaction is subject to the VAT reverse charge rules, the supplier issues an invoice without VAT to the buyer, while the latter will include that transaction in his VAT return and account for both the output and input VAT related thereto. This way, VAT cash settlements with business partners and the state budget are no longer an issue....more »